The Old Ones
by Winter'sWalk
Summary: When the swarm reaches the eastern seaboard of the United States in early 2065, a quiet, young man from Virginia embarks on an eventful journey during the apocalyptic invasion. His adventure is filled with new friendships, despair, dread, hope, and joy. The sorrow of the past and the uncertainty of the future makes the present his last refuge in what seems to be the end. [WIP]
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Coming of the Swarm**

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 **A/N:** I intend to adhere as closely as possible to the the canon contained within the various text and audio datapoints of Horizon: Zero Dawn. If the reader notices any disparities, please notify me so that I may make changes. Also, the version of this story with images (which I'm planning to add more of) is on Archive of Our Own under the same title.

Please. Relax and immerse yourself in the end of the world. Also, a message to that one guy or girl (At least I think you're just one person) from Canada that has read every chapter so far. I appreciate you! (Add to this small list that one guy or girl from the UK who had recently done the same.)

* * *

On a river bank 川岸に

one hundred lifeless bodies 命のない百体

served to a titan 巨人に仕えた

\- Japanese poet, 2/02/65

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

On an early spring morning, before dawn, I sat by my bedroom window with my eyes fixed on the eastern horizon. A gentle rain pattered the glass.

As I looked on, an intense show of brief yet incessant, low-lying flashes illuminated the darkness over the whole of the Atlantic horizon; explosions muffled by the distance rumbled with each flash of light. With an outstretched arm, the lights of the distant encounter would span about half the width of my hand. Military aircraft, visible only by their formation lights, sounded above my apartment as they sped toward the faraway engagement. The whole sky was filled with the blinking lights of military aircraft. A haunting sight it was.

Behind me, my small apartment bedroom was lit only by the pale glow of my television, which seemed to be preparing for an emergency broadcast.

Energy usage had become somewhat regulated after a state of emergency was declared in Virginia a few weeks ago, although the regulations weren't inconvenient given the ever-improving nature of power-efficiency. It was commonly thought that these regulations had stemmed from the government's overestimation of the amount of electrical power that would be required to bring decades-old military technology back into service and subsequently maintain them for an indefinite space of time.

When these regulations had been enacted, I hadn't yet fully realized the gravity of the national situation. Then, when American media coverage of the European theater of war had ceased in late January, my usual day-to-day routine had changed drastically.

I no longer attended my college classes because all of the students and staff had decided to stay with family or friends wherever that may be. After all, it was the end of days, or so it seemed; the only occupation left was either home defense preparation, which was encouraged, or evacuation. As a result, my dreams of working at Miriam Technologies under Dr. Elisabet Sobeck had dissolved.

When I awoke this morning to the flashes and rumbles that colored the ocean's edge, I knew that the swarm had come. The dread of the realization glued me to the window as a man drawn to the edge of a cliff or an abyss. Some had said that they could sense our presence, our dense populations, in some way and were drawn to it, like wasps to the scent of fruit juice. I had been watching the spectacle for no more than half an hour. As I sat, I decided that I would visit my family soon; Easter was four days away.

–—–

It was two months ago, in late January, when I had first caught wind of the rumors that the swarm would head for the east coast. I had read the rumors in the live-chat of a video showing a battle ravaged town on a well-known live-streaming site. I remember the feeling that had weighed on my heart as the rumors began to seem more and more authentic with each passing day. Initially, the news outlets were vague about the subject as was their custom. Once the rumors had become sufficiently widespread, the media seemed to tacitly agree upon referring to the undetected swarm as ES-17 for reporting convenience; a designation that by its plainness inspired dread.

In the early days of February, last month, a few of the more reliable outlets had revealed the U.S. government's declaration of a state of DEFCON 1 and the subsequent mobilization of the entirety of the U.S. Robot Command on the eastern seaboard all the way from New York to Florida. During this period, more and more people living in coastal areas had decided to move inland. Most of those who remained, however, had not yet grasped the graveness of these changes, including myself. I knew about the swarm only from videos on the internet, which gave me a false sense of security and detachment from the horrors.

Around mid-February, droves of military ordnance and other defensive measures, including old nuclear artillery pieces, had been airlifted to and set up on the western banks of the Chesapeake Bay where I lived while the Delmarva Peninsula to the east had been evacuated to serve, according to the news, as a kind of large-scale trap and focus of bombardment in the event of an invasion. First, rising sea levels thirty years ago forced an evacuation from the peninsula, then the threat of invasion. However, it was apparent that most of the residents had willingly fled before the military even arrived, thanks to early rumors about the swarm's movements. The defensive preparations there were hastened after the abrupt loss of communication with the command centers throughout the European Union, especially the NATO headquarters in Belgium, in late February.

A few weeks after the initial rumors of the swarm's approach, which came before the sudden loss of contact, entire divisions and mechanized brigades of the U.S.R.C. were seen crowding the major roads and railways on their way toward the Atlantic coast. Transport helicopters were seen airlifting equipment and a variety of aircraft both outdated and modern had filled the spring skies too like birds on their autumn migration. In that same eventful February, last month, a news helicopter had shown an amazing live feed of the combined task forces and fleets of the U.S. Navy all concentrated off Virginia and New York. These were the warships that had been gradually decommissioned in the years leading up to 2055. I had watched on my laptop from my room with a mixture of awe and fear. This massive movement of military assets had confirmed the rumors of an imminent invasion. It was the cherry on top.

During sunrise, on the same day as that live feed showing the navy, I had witnessed a procession of at least four carrier strike groups accompanied by destroyers armed with twin-mounted railgun turrets leave the Chesapeake Bay to meet with the fleet seen on TV. I had been sitting on a bench beside the water. It was a solemn experience to see them sail out to sea.

Two museum battleships from a century-old war, the USS _Wisconsin_ and USS _New Jersey_ , had also been seen in the live helicopter feed amid the smaller yet more powerful modern ships. They had been retrofitted with modern weapon systems. It had seemed to me at the time that these historic ships were included to boost morale more than anything else. Each were armed with their age-old cannons, three mounted in each massive turret. A program detailing their respective roles in major historic battles had accompanied their reveal.

I was well aware of the drawback that rendered most automated equipment useless and I presumed that the automated weaponry aboard the warships had been either deactivated or removed. This topic was a point of much discussion at my university. Many jokes had been made about the irony in the U.S.R.C.'s name. However, military correspondents had stated on the day of the fleet reveal that encryption experts had managed to devise an anti-hacking technology similar to that used by the Chariot-line for use in the various automated systems employed by the U.S. Navy. The warships would apparently serve as a test bed for it.

The correspondents had expressed confidence in the infallibility of the anti-hacking tech, but I was a little weary of their claims. Still, the scene of those endless fleets and task forces had served to rouse much hope in me. If one were to have stood on the shores and looked out over the Atlantic beyond the whitecaps, one would have seen ships dotting the entire Atlantic horizon as far as the eye could see.

About a week ago, during the evening, I had stood on a pier jutting out from Virginia Beach amid the strong ocean winds and took in the sight of that formidable wall of warships. It was an astonishing sight. They had been patrolling the same general area for over two months, but usually sailed out of view over the edge of the horizon. At the time, I believed that nothing, not even the swarm, could defeat them whether or not their automated assets would be functional in battle.

–—–

I felt that confidence of mine being tested as I sat by my window, watching the flickering horizon.

I had seen videos online; the horrors of it all, when the European armies were still fighting strong. There was a particular live video from Germany about three months ago, after New Year's Day, that showed one of the smaller machines "processing" a human being. The camera-man, whispering in German, had been filming cautiously from a second-floor window overlooking a town street. At the start of the video, an injured young man, with what seemed to be a broken leg, was approached by a Scarab, which was covered with spots of dried blood and dirt, that proceeded to exsanguinate and dissolve the man's body while he was still alive. I had seen some kind of black smoke enveloping the helpless man. The machine had merely stood over him like a hen brooding her eggs all the while.

I will never forget the screams; the shrieks of agony as the machine hunkered over the bloodied man on the grass beside a bike path. I had turned away in revulsion for a moment and pulled my headphones out of my ears. However, I couldn't help but turn my eyes back to the screen. No help had arrived. A wrecked tank of the German Panzer Division stood further down the adjacent road. Meanwhile, crying could be heard and the camera-man had made quiet shushing sounds. Then, the video had ended suddenly. Whether it was he who had ended the recording or the U.S. government, I do not know. Similar content would usually be taken down from the internet immediately, but the live videos thrived.

All of those filmed incidents flooded my mind as I watched the daunting flashes in the distant darkness. I wondered how far behind the horizon the encounter was. The U.S. Navy task forces were, no doubt, engaged in an intense fight and were making use of all their firepower. I imagined the high-energy laser weapon systems, the railgun turrets, and other automated systems being directed toward the oncoming hordes if the anti-hacking measures had succeeded. I imagined the century-old battleships fighting once more against a different kind of enemy, one that was driven not by anger, but by hunger.

On my nightstand, the holo-clock read 3:56; dawn was yet to come. Meanwhile, I rolled a small, cyan colored pill between the fingertips of my trembling right hand. It had been issued to all over the age of twenty-one to encourage fearless resistance in Operation: Enduring Victory; it promised a swift, painless death once ingested.

I remembered the day it was distributed at my college a month ago and handed around like a syllabus. A military recruiter had visited my class and persuaded the students to join the Civilian Guard with an impassioned speech. I will admit that the female officer had succeeded in rousing everyone's spirits, including mine. Some classmates had afterward made lighthearted jokes about the so-called "suicide pill," but I had simply stared at it in silence.

I placed it back into its small, plastic container, walked over to the nightstand beside my bed, and put it in the drawer. I then returned to the chair facing the window and looked toward the horizon once again. Project Zero Dawn, the focus of the media after the first reports of all-out war in Europe and Asia, occupied my thoughts as I watched the flickering glow of the distant encounter.

The assured manner in which the president had described the alleged super weapon on the twelfth of November last year sparked my imagination then. I pictured in my mind some satellite mounted missile system or a colossal, land-based defensive measure that would outdo all the firepower of the combined fleets battling far off in the darkness. Imaginative ideas of the nature of the super weapon kindled hope within my heart despite my helpless fear. As these worries and wonders flitted through my mind, a muted siren suddenly blared from outside. Soon after, an emergency alert reanimated my television screen. I turned the whole of my attention toward it.

An urgent message moved across the screen and directed residents to designated county centers for essential supplies. The phrase "Fight or Flee" showed amid the messages. I saw my residence, Gloucester county, which had a few areas specified for pickup and I heeded the nearest destination about a few minutes' drive away. Then, as the messages continued across the bottom, the president suddenly appeared on screen. It seemed to be an extempore appearance. I didn't recall any past presidential speeches to have been broadcast at such an early time when the whole nation would be fast asleep. However, the din of emergency alerts, military aircraft, and outdoor sirens had probably awakened everyone by then.

The president looked solemn as always as he stood behind the lectern. After a long silence, he spoke in a measured voice.

"My fellow Americans,

This morning on March the 25th, 2065, U.S. Navy task forces assigned to the eastern seaboard have made contact with an enemy swarm, designated ES-17, off the coast of Virginia. Another swarm has been detected approaching Florida while a third is approaching the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. military has made extensive use of its nuclear assets in an attempt to stall the swarm on its push across the Atlantic and a large number of Horus machines have been neutralized, but this is just the beginning of our struggle. As of yet, the status of our European allies is unknown. The loss of communication does not necessarily mean an end to their struggle. In the event of total and irreversible defeat, their governments have sworn to detonate their nuclear arsenals in major centers across the continent. So far, no detonations have been detected. However, in the face of this unrelenting enemy, the brave men and women of the U.S. military will fight on with undying resolve to defend our nation, to protect our loved ones, and to safeguard humanity and all life on Earth. That is the duty of not only the military, but also the civilians of this country. Do not despair on this day, this day of days. Operation: Enduring Victory will, by the American citizen's unfaltering determination, prevail and Project Zero Dawn will emerge to smite once and for all this scourge from our world. My fellow Americans, rise and take up arms. Fight for hope, fight for our future. On the brink of uncertainty, let not fear strike your hearts for we will triumph. We will succeed for the sake of all the dreams and hopes as of yet left unrealized; dreams and hopes that must and will live on forever. May _God_ bless you all."

Then, the camera cut and all that was left were the messages moving across the screen. I reflected on the president's speech. A few questions took hold of my mind.

 _How can the swarm withstand a nuclear attack? How many nuclear bombs were dropped on them? Does the president expect all civilians to fight?_

I assumed, regarding the latter, that he meant for civilians to offer indirect aid rather than fight head on with the swarm. There was of course the militia that consisted of civilian recruits, but I wondered then if joining it would become mandatory. I didn't think that I would be a useful addition in direct combat, but I was more than willing to help the cause in other ways.

Really, I was afraid of suffering like that young German man in the old video despite having the cyan pill, and I was convinced, along with many others, that the trained soldiers of the military were sufficient regarding direct combat. No one really had a clear idea of the power of the swarm at the time. With a sense of indecision regarding my future, I turned once again toward the flashes and listened to the rumbles of the distant battle as I considered what to do.

 _I should head to the supply center to see what's being handed out at least,_ I thought.

I found it strange that the alert didn't specify the supplies being given. Nonetheless, I presumed that it must be something important given the looming invasion.

 _After that, I'll go to my parent's house; I should visit them before it's too late._

With my plan laid out, I turned off the television, changed out of my pajamas, and put on my dark green sweater. I made sure to grab the pill from the nightstand drawer and secure it in my jeans pocket. Then, I hurried to the kitchen to pack whatever food and supplies that I would bring on the drive to Alexandria where my parents lived. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be returning to my apartment any time soon and I thought that leaving my food to rot here would be unwise. After gathering bread, water, canned food, and other non-perishables in an old cardboard box, about two feet cubed, from a past Christmas and placing it on the kitchen counter, I returned to my bedroom window once more and beheld the remote bursts of light and muffled explosions one last time. Rainwater dripped down the glass pane.

Sometimes, bright tracer rounds would stream down from multiple points in the dark sky faraway. I imagined that it must be the gunships of the air force raining down fire. One would think that the gods were fighting too. All the while, I half-expected to see the shadowy forms of those dreadful giants, the Horus machines, with each flicker. The encounter was too far off, however, and obscured by the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula that bordered the Chesapeake Bay to the east. Still, I waited in fear for one of those tall, unearthly limbs to appear in the midst of the brief flashes. Nothing.

I knew that videos showing the titans, the Horus machines, were extremely rare, and of those rare recorded sightings, obscurity was the norm. The minor robots of the swarm almost always led the invasion dozens of miles ahead of them according to Chariot-line experts. In late January, there was a live video from the North Sea off Devonport that garnered millions of views. A fishing trawler in cloudy weather and windy seas had caught sight of a motionless form amid the waves about fifty feet off the portside.

It was a dull gray in some parts and gleaming silver in others, but most importantly, it was massive, well in excess of 250 meters in length. It was as if a towering, Faro Automated Solutions skyscraper had been laying adrift on its side amid the swells. One of the sailors had decided to film it live while another, after close observation, decided to call it in to someone; his pale face and terrified look meant that he had some idea of what it was. Then, about a couple of minutes later, it suddenly submerged beneath the waves as the sailors shouted and cursed in surprise.

The fisherman had filmed for about a half an hour longer and about twenty minutes later, military jets flew overhead. About a month after that video, contact with Britain ceased. It was well known that every branch of the British Armed Forces had been completely replaced by robotic assets a little over a decade ago and subsequently renamed Her Majesty's Robot Command. This had left them completely bare and forced them to resort to obsolete technology. According to the media, U.S. military officials believed that the cause of their defeat lay in their failure to quickly remobilize their store of obsolete military assets. As the world had learned early on, the swarm had the power to render all automated equipment useless, or so it was believed. The extent to which they had power over similarly encrypted, non-corrupt AI was not fully known.

I managed to pull my eyes away from the window and clear my mind of the ghastly scenes of those horrid videos. I fetched an old wheeled-luggage case from my closet and hurriedly filled it with clothes. Then, I made my way to the kitchen once more, rolling the luggage behind me by its extended handle, to grab the box of supplies and afterward, went out the front door to walk to my car in the parking lot. The rain poured lightly. Military jets and other aircraft continued to resound loudly overhead. Crowds of people were leaving their apartments as well and packing their cars with necessities. Many of them were wearing their Focuses, which was apparent by the holographic ring beside their ears. I had a Focus, but never wore it. It was in my pocket. To my surprise, the usual din of a crowd was absent. Half-asleep children, still in pajamas, clung to their mothers unaware of the looming invasion. No more would they go to school, make friends, or live a hopeful life if the military and navy failed.

I briefly wondered why these people hadn't evacuated earlier. How thoughtless it was of them to stay, especially with their children. The thought weighed on my heart and I stood watching the crowds with a depressed spirit. An unwelcome thought of a Scarab squatting over the bloodied bodies of these people as it did in those gruesome videos took hold of my mind. I was bothered by this momentary mental image. I countered it by fantasizing about some benevolent yet unemotional robotic colossus repelling the scourge as a human would an ant. As I headed to my car, I pictured a stoic expression, like a roman mask, on this imaginary colossus as it effortlessly crushed the swarm, this blight upon the earth.

I thought to myself that Zero Dawn would eventually materialize this fantasy in whatever way it would. So, I suspended this fantasy and left it to Zero Dawn. With a feeling of powerlessness, yet a tinge of hope, I got into my car to head for the supply pickup center. I informed the automated driver AI of my directions and looked out the rain pattered window at the panicked faces. Sorrow, fear, and hope vied within me.

–—–

* * *

"Like massive boulders, mountains pressing against the sky, moving in from all sides, crushing the four directions, so aging and death come rolling over living beings: noble warriors, brahmans, merchants, workers, outcastes, & scavengers. They spare nothing. They trample everything." - Pabbatopama Sutta, _Pali Canon_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Only Way is Westward**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

The pale, light-blue numbers on the dashboard read 4:34. The light rain formed drops of water on my windshield.

The roads, especially the I-95, were full of people heading in the same direction. I had decided to pass the supply center near my apartment because after having arrived at the designated high school, there was such a congestion of cars in the roads around it that I knew the wait would be long. I wanted to get to Alexandria as soon as possible. I also had a hunch that, based on the accumulation of military personnel and vehicles at the high school and past rumors about more drastic military plans to draw on the civilian population for manpower, the supply center was meant for the distribution of military weaponry to the civilian population.

As I sat within my old, self-driven car, I felt a familiar feeling. It was reminiscent of those times when, as a child, my family and I would be in the car heading to the airport for an early flight. It had all the quietness and tiredness of mind that characterized those early morning drives. There was also that familiar feeling of escape that accompanied those trips to the airport. It was that feeling that I was leaving my home to never return and one of an unpredictable future.

As I sat in my car, that gravitation of heart to school, to work, to home, and to everything else composed of regular care and worry vanished. It was that foundational change in my heart that I will forever associate with the dissolution of normal, everyday life. I lifted my eyes to the dark sky and saw the blinking lights of countless aircraft heading eastward to hinder the advance of the unseen foe. During my northward drive on the I-95, I saw those countless lights in their formations. Some went wondrously fast, some relatively slowly. I sat in complete awe of those formations and what they meant. How can I do justice to the grandness of that early morning sky filled with those frantic lights of military aircraft, invisible in the darkness?

It was 5:27 when I neared Alexandria. The rain had ceased, but the clouds still covered most of the dark sky. There were fewer cars on those roads. Realizing that I hadn't called my parents yet, I tapped on my dad's number on the contact list on the dashboard screen, intending to tell them that I was coming. There was no answer. I tried again, but to no avail. I thought nothing of it.

No more than thirty minutes later, as I drove deeper into Alexandria, I saw countless soldiers and military equipment stationed throughout. The occasional large parking lot would be completely filled with such personnel and equipment and I occasionally saw the FEMA logo and that of other major national agencies on temporary structures. It evoked a sense of the end of times, the last breath of humanity. Being so close to D.C., it wasn't a surprise to me.

There were only a few cars in those city roads at that time, some driving in the same direction that I was heading and a few going the opposite way. I found myself slowing the car down once in a while to take in this sublime accumulation of military and government personnel in this modest town of Alexandria that I had grown so accustomed to during my late high school and early college years, when I had still been living with my parents.

There were massive tanks grouped here and there. Some were moving on the roads. Not one of the soldiers, clad in what appeared to me as full gear, or those dressed in government or federal attire were interested in my driving past. They were all either seemingly immersed in some important business or were standing or walking with a somberness that impressed me.

Once I arrived at the group of townhouses where my parents lived, I noticed that there were no cars parked outside anywhere, not one in sight. Normally, an empty parking space would be a rare sight because of the smallness of the garages of the townhouses and the fact that most of the residents had two or three cars to themselves. When my car pulled itself into the small driveway before the garage door, which was in the back of the house, I immediately exited my car, entered the passcode into the button pad beside the garage door, and then entered the door within the garage. On the chair immediately before the door, there was a whiteboard with the following message written on it:

"Michael,

We were informed to make our way westward. We decided to go to Aunt Theresa's house in Colorado. You should remember how to get there. We tried to call, but there was no signal. Be safe!"

I couldn't help but sit on the floor before the sign in silence. On the whiteboard, I could see my sister's old marker drawings half-erased. An old drawing from years ago was still on it and had long dried. It was an old whiteboard that had been stashed away until then. I felt a little dejected for not having arrived sooner, but at the same time, I was relieved that they had got a head start away from the east coast. To be honest, I preferred to be alone anyway, and I was always calmed by the thought of my sister being in the caring hands of my mom and dad.

I got up and paced through the silent and empty house. It was beyond silent and empty. It felt like ruins or what I imagined being in abandoned ruins would feel like. That was what I thought it would become sooner or later. I walked up to the second floor, into the kitchen to find the lights still on. I first went to turn on the TV in the living room and switched it to the news. I turned down the volume. The EAS messages were still moving across the top of the screen, but there were no updates. Then, I pulled out one of the dining table chairs and sat. Being a person always impressed by and attracted to silence and feelings of pure solitude, I sat in that empty house, those ruins, for a while. It was not completely silent, however. There was the faint sound of aircraft flying overhead and the occasional muffled sound of what I assumed to be military convoys moving along the roads nearby.

I considered whether or not I should go to Colorado to meet with my parents. Really, I did not feel any great affection for them, I only wished to be there for my sister during such frightening times. I had known her since she was a small baby and during that period of her life, having been immersed in a serious practice of the Buddhist habit of meditation and silent contemplation, I had developed a sensitivity toward her that stayed with me all this time. Yet, as I stated earlier, I was always reassured by the thought of her well-being in the care of my parents. With that in mind, I decided that I would go wherever I wanted to go before heading to Colorado. Maybe I would fight or find other ways to aid those on the frontline. Maybe I would spend my time in a national park until the war ended.

The prospect of the dissolution of normal society did not distress me too much. I had no major attachments to food, clothes, and the general allures of the world. I had long become used to eating little every day and what little I ate was simple and unrelished. To me, addiction to food was merely an artificial hindrance to an even mind and in the event of an apocalypse, which I had of course never considered before, a nuisance. I also believed that the approaching ordeals would be temporary, and that humanity would eventually emerge from them with a never-ending resolve to keep themselves in check, lest the same mistakes be made as we were then experiencing the results of.

I had confidence in Project Zero Dawn and believed that long before the swarm could make it to the interior of the U.S., the secret weapon would eradicate them. Everyone had faith in Zero Dawn. Some, including myself, even believed that the military alone was enough. Therefore, I felt no drastic urge to see my parents and my sister at Colorado right away. Once the war was over, I would see them again, although the east coast and my home with it would probably be uninhabitable for a while afterward.

After a while, I got up and headed toward the kitchen. From within the fridge, I mindlessly grabbed an orange and peeled it slowly. The news continued from the TV with subtitles. Briefly, a clip was shown on the news of the distant flashes seen from the coast. There were a small group of onlookers in view. I turned away from the screen and somberly ate each individual slice with a subtle sense of anxiety. At the same time, I felt that I had all the freedom in the world either to remain where I was or to leave on a whim and go in whatever direction that I wanted. All except eastward of course.

–—–

* * *

"Without resistance in all four directions, content with whatever you get, enduring troubles with no dismay, wander alone like a rhinoceros." - _Pali Canon_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

I stood within the kitchen, slowly eating the orange because in deep thought. I calmly walked over to the sink window and opened the blinds to see that it was still dark outside.

The time on the fridge read 6:07. The street lamps were still on, suffusing their surroundings with a soft, golden hue. A line of conifer trees stood right across the neighborhood road running behind the townhouses. I gazed upon those conifers that were framed by the window and perceived their silhouettes becoming more pronounced as the sky gradually shifted from night to early morning twilight. The few visible stars that I could make out gradually disappeared. I remained in that same position for a little more than half an hour, which made me perceive that nearly imperceptible change in the sky.

A while after finishing that orange, I became aware of how tired I was. I hadn't slept the night before because with my semester having recently ended the previous Sunday, I had decided to stay up late last night and the early morning to type out a story that had been in my head for a while. I had been typing when I noticed the brief flashes forming faint shadows on the wall opposite the window. I had left my blinds wide open overnight. It was then that I had walked over to the window to witness those distant flashes and soon realized what they signaled.

I went back to the fridge to grab the pitcher of cold water within and I poured myself a tall cup. Then, I made my way up to the third floor where my old bedroom was. When I entered the bedroom, I saw by the hallway light that I had just switched on that it was still the same beside the replacement of my old bedsheets with plainer ones and a few containers stacked up on the wall opposite my old bed. It had evidently been used partly as guest bedroom and partly as extra storage space after I had left. I had never stayed overnight with my parents after getting my own place a little over two years ago to be the guest and so, sleep on my old bed once again.

Therefore, when I fell on my bed just then, it was my first time laying on that bed in a long time. The window, which faced southeast, was right at the head of my bed and I opened the blinds while laying on my side by simply pressing the button on the side of the nightstand. I could see the lights of many aircraft still speeding eastward, although most did not fly directly overhead. Sometimes, the formation lights disappeared behind a layer of barely perceptible clouds and reappeared some moments after. It was still too dark for me to clearly make out the shapes of the aircraft, however. With the faint sounds of those aircraft, I drifted into a deep sleep.

—

In my sleep, I dreamed. I dreamed that I was on a beach all alone. The sky was overcast. I waded in the shallow waters, which went up to my thighs. Then, a sudden, strong undertow began to pull me toward the sea despite my feeble attempts to resist it. Firmly planting my submerged feet in the sand didn't help at all. The sand merely gave way to the pull of the ocean. I had dreamed such a dream many times before.

As the undercurrent brought me into deeper waters, I saw an immense metallic body a few hundred feet away. Its length was parallel to the shore. It looked like the partially submerged titan that the fishermen off of Devonport had sighted. A pang of fear filled my heart as I was helplessly pulled toward that motionless mass. As I neared the metal body, I realized just how massive it really was. Before I could collide with it, I was suddenly awakened by my own panic.

—

When I woke up, my fear from the dream had already begun to subside. My memory of it was already becoming a blur. I saw through the window that the sky in view was covered with intermittent sheets of low and mid-height clouds. There seemed to be more cloud than sky. The holo-clock on the nightstand read 12:37. Despite being midday, I saw that it was not glaringly bright outside because of the layer of cirrocumulus clouds higher up in the sky, which mollified the sun's light. I sat up on my bed, then drank the cool water from my cup that had been on the nightstand. Being recently awakened, I felt that it was just a normal day. However, not a moment later, my heart was struck with a worry that came with my remembrance of previous events. I looked out the window once again, but with more frantic eyes. It was quiet. I was a few hundred miles inland, away from the eager advances of the plague.

 _Had the enemy been defeated at sea? Had they been stalled?_ I wondered.

I dreaded the thought that they had been swiftly approaching as I had slept. My window gave me no reassurance because the row of townhouses across the street blocked any view of the horizon that could ascertain whether the plague was near or not. I hurriedly made my way downstairs to the living room and turned on the TV. The same EAS messages were still moving across the top of the screen, but there were no new updates. Gaining no assurance from the news or the EAS, I went downstairs to the door that lead to the garage.

Once I made it outside to the driveway where my car was parked, I noticed something moving among the conifers down the road in my peripheral vision. I looked to see what it was. About thirty or so feet away, an old man, who was facing away from me, was handling a rope while standing upon a stepladder. It was when I saw him throw the rope over a low-lying branch and noticed the noose on the end of the rope that I understood what was happening. My anxiety regarding the status of the plague's advance was put off for the time being.

"Hello! Sir!" I called out while walking briskly toward him. He turned around briefly.

"Hello, sir. Wait. Let's talk about it?" I offered with a calm demeanor, having slowed my pace once I got closer to him.

It was then that the old man began to cry heavily. I stood silently behind him, casting my eyes downward. He slowly lowered himself from the ladder. When he reached the ground, he fell to his knees and continued crying. I lowered myself and sat cross-legged beside him, looking across the still waters of the artificial drainage pond behind the conifers. The man was going to hang himself. After a while, he stopped crying and remained nearly prostrated with his hands resting on his knees and his body arched forward. I cast a sideward glance toward him, waiting for the right time to speak. It was after nearly half an hour of sitting amid the trees with the occasional squirrel that I spoke.

"You were going to hang yourself?"

He kept silent and motionless. I furtively studied his dispirited posture and his graying hair.

"I lost my bullets…Threw them in the water a few days ago," he said in a gentle voice, nodding his head toward the pond.

"It was dumb of me to do so…But I told myself that she might be okay…but then I heard the president's words this morning…" he shook his head suddenly and his voice seemed to weaken.

"The water is too deep and murky to go looking for them," he explained regarding the bullets. "I'll wait for the water to drain."

I waited once again for the right moment to ask a further question.

"You said she. Who is she?" I meekly asked.

"An old friend. I had known her since I was a child…She went to England, the Lake District." He needn't say more.

I remembered a particular live video that showed the fate of those who had escaped to the Lake District. Some of the live comments in the feed were especially offensive, some making trite attempts at humor with references to H.G. Wells' famous novel. It was in this video that the world had seen glimpses of the Horuses of the plague, although only faintly by the flashes of an intense night battle. One of the more disturbing scenes from that recording came toward the end with the haunting scene of dozens of eerily motionless Scarabs amid a beautiful field during early sunrise. They were brooding over dead bodies in their usual habit. It was the aftermath of a retreat. What looked to be a blackish smoke emanated from the Scarabs, which adhered to the mangled bodies, and gradually dissolved them. First, the skin was dissolved, then the underlying flesh and bones.

The cameraman had zoomed in on the process and his camera was of high quality. And how different were these machines from those advertisements and toys that had depicted them! They were far from child-friendly and inviting as I had been grown up to believe and were instead, with the dents, grime and blood, and bits of branches and bushes covering them, the unfeeling machines of systematic death that surpassed any fictional demon or monster in terror. It disturbed me to think that maybe those body-strewn fields were the same ones that the famed English nature-poets of centuries past wrote about. After this monumental video, the president had issued an executive order that had made the dissemination of recordings of such incidents a crime punishable by life imprisonment. Of course, there were still those who knew how to get away with disobeying this law for the sake of the public's morbid curiosity. Not long after the executive order was issued, Great Britain was lost.

"I'm sorry," I said after a long silence.

After a few minutes, the old man rose to his feet and looked over to me. I saw the mild and depressed expression on his face, which then formed a kindly smile despite his sadness.

"Where is your family, young man?" he gently inquired with a benevolent concern. "Why are you here all alone in these times?"

"My parents and my sister evacuated this morning. They lived there"—I pointed to their house—"They're going to Colorado, to stay with my mom's sister."

"Are you going with them?" He asked, interested.

I pondered it for a moment.

"I don't know."

"Is there someone else that you would rather be with?"

"I'm not sure," I hesitantly said.

For a moment, I remembered my best friend, who had moved away some years ago.

 _I would rather be with her,_ I thought.

However, I had made it a habit to repress my memory of her and so, the thought didn't linger long. It was an unconscious habit to avoid a sorrow for something that was unchangeable. If only grieving had the power to make me see her one last time; to make me feel her again.

 _No,_ I admonished myself. _No._

The old man looked at the grass beside me in thought.

"Hurry and catch up with your parents, young man. Or whoever it is you cherish. Now is not the time to be alone. Spare yourself the grief that has stricken me," he warmly urged.

I wanted to say that it was too late for that. That I was experiencing the aftermath of it. However, I knew that it would likely invite sympathy, which was just as powerless as grieving. Those who have known my grief have realized how bizarre sympathy can be unless it be of an understanding silence and nothing more. Can sympathy bring her beside me once again?

I remained seated on the grass in deep thought. He then proceeded to sit cross-legged beside me and we both experienced the silence and stillness between the conifers for a while. Together, we quietly watched the scurrying squirrels, the branches swaying in the gentle wind, and the subtle ripples on the pond before us.

After what seemed to be at least half an hour if not more, he put a kindly hand on my shoulder, raised himself, took one last look at me, then slowly walked toward one of the houses and entered through the open garage without closing it behind him. I saw the door within the garage open and close slowly after him. He didn't say a word to me as he left, and I thought it would be unfitting for me to speak. That was a moment that would stick with me for life.

I rose to my feet and walked back onto the road. I decided that I would drive to the nearby Japanese restaurant for food and so I walked back to my car in the driveway. As I walked, I noticed movement in the sky in my peripheral vision. Looking above, I saw in plain daylight numerous black, triangular aircraft in countless v-formations stretching across the whole of the visible sky. They flew with a majestic slowness and quietness with no visible contrails behind. The entire sky in view seemed to be dotted with what I assumed to be those manned bombers that had been made obsolete around a decade ago when the U.S. Air Force had switched to automation. I stood in the middle of the road as I gazed upon this sublime scene.

The bomber formations were flying in different levels, some below or above the others, which made the scene more astonishing by its depth. There were too many of them for the thick clouds to obscure entirely. I imagined in my amazement that there had to be at least one bomber for each robot of the swarm. There had to be. Rarely in my life had a sight so filled my mind that not even a mere fragment of a thought remained.

After a while of gazing in complete awe, a siren sounded loudly and I hurried to my car. Once I got in, I informed the AI of my desire to go the particular Japanese restaurant that I had in mind. As the car backed out of the driveway and drove along the neighborhood roads, I looked through the sunroof at those endless formations. As I departed from my old neighborhood, I saw a number of VTOL aircraft suddenly take off nearby. I assumed that they were taking off from the same large parking lots that I had seen filled with military personnel and equipment during my arrival this morning.

Each of these aircraft, rising in apparent synchrony, were lifting one of those colossal tanks that I had seen grouped together earlier. This sudden appearance of vertically rising military aircraft did not just happen in one place but seemed to be happening all around me. I then saw a further addition. Large, gray military transports below the bombers, but above the VTOLs flew past, although in less numbers. I imagined that these large transports could carry at least two or three of those tanks. All of this was happening below that great formation flying above the layers of cumulus clouds. I turned on the radio as this show of military force went on.

"Forces are anticipating the arrival of ES-17 all across the coast of the eastern seaboard. Our informants have told us that the swarm had managed to completely bypass the bulk of the naval force patrolling off the coast of Virginia," said a female reporter with an even voice.

That was the only major information shared regarding the impending invasion. The rest of the news consisted of relatively petty domestic affairs that seemed unfitting considering the dire circumstances showing around me.

I was relieved to know that the swarm had yet to reach our shores. That incredible sight of all those military aircraft heading eastward assured me that humanity would triumph. How could anyone feel otherwise after seeing such a display of military power? Regarding the news report, I didn't understand why the reporter had stated that the swarm had "completely" bypassed the naval force. I had seen the incessant flashes of the battle that had been going on over the horizon before twilight this morning. I assumed that the reporter was merely exaggerating and that maybe the naval forces had merely encountered stragglers from the main body of the swarm. Maybe the swarm had known that they wouldn't stand a chance against the warships and chose to avoid them. I gave no further thought to the matter. To be honest, I was then starting to become slightly unsettled by the thought of the swarm making intelligent decisions just so that they may have more bodies to devour. I focused again on the accumulation of aircraft to dispel that train of thought.

When I arrived at the nearby restaurant after about ten minutes, I perceived the rear end of the seemingly endless formations of bombers some distance to the west overhead. It wasn't endless after all. The last of the VTOL vehicle transports and larger transports were then flying past as I parked my car in the empty parking lot of the small shopping center, which looked to be completely abandoned. Once I got out of my car, I simply stood and looked around at the emptiness. The place was devoid of military personnel too, which I assumed was because of the smallness of the parking lot relative to the larger ones around, which probably made it tactically useless. However, I wasn't a military expert or enthusiast and I really didn't give such things much thought. The bombers continued quietly overhead above the clouds as I walked toward the Japanese restaurant. I had worked there years ago when I lived with my parents.

Before I reached the entrance, I already knew that it was empty because the lights were off. It was the same for the other stores and restaurants. Although the main parking lot was empty, I had up until then assumed that maybe the employee cars were parked in the back. The store owners and employees had apparently decided to evacuate with the rest long before I had arrived, although some of the stores were automated and staffed by bots.

Fortunately, the door was not locked, and I entered freely. First, I turned on the lights within, which were intentionally soft and dim to foster a calm atmosphere in line with the typical, semi-fancy Japanese restaurant. Then, I grabbed the remote for the TV, which was stowed within a cabinet behind the front counter as it had been when I used to work there. I immediately switched to the news and sat down at one of the tables, each of which were of the same varnished dark-wood as I remembered. It seemed that the employees had put the chairs down from the tables in anticipation of a normal business day and had left them down in their sudden evacuation. There were no conspicuous signs of a frantic evacuation, however.

How peaceful it was to be alone in what would normally be a busy place! I sat in solitude. I saw that the fish in the lit aquarium, which was integrated flush against the left wall, were still swimming nonchalantly. The aquarium extended along the wall until it terminated before the kitchen that took up the back-left corner of the restaurant. As I sat in a contented silence, I decided that I would cook myself my favorite food and I went to the kitchen while the news provided for a sense of company. It was then, as I was walking, that I heard from the news something that grabbed my attention.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Realities of War**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

I looked back to the TV, which was mounted on the wall opposite the aquarium. The news channel that I had been watching cut to a discussion between the U.S. Army Secretary and an official from the Center for Automated Risk Assessment. A small, light blue holo-display of the institute's logo hovered above the round, matte black table between them. The CARA host, whose name was Sofia Wong, performed the niceties of introduction first of all. Then, she proceeded to ask the Secretary of the Army the first of what was intended to be a series of questions. I sat down at one of the tables to watch. My lunch could wait.

"So, tell me, what were some of the U.S. Robot Command's biggest challenges in reassembling its forces from its supply of decades-old, decommissioned assets from the pre-automated era? They pretty much had to start from scratch it seems," asked Wong.

"It was pretty much a clean slate that we had to work with, definitely. Our national security advisors had early on drilled into the heads of all the higher-ups of the U.S. Northern Command that using our automated assets, our robots, to fight head on with their rogue counterparts would be throwing fuel into a fire, so to speak. We are still not entirely sure to what extent this claim is true and the leading minds of our nation our currently collaborating to find an effective solution to this issue. Meanwhile, all of our automated assets in every branch of robot command had been decommissioned and replaced by their manned precursors."— _What about the anti-hacking measures?_ _What about Zero Dawn?_ I wondered as he talked—"The process of decommissioning the entirety of our automated forces was just as challenging as recommissioning and integrating the older technology. In every military base across the nation, a gradual, stepwise plan for deactivating and stowing away our automated assets was enacted very early on and we had to implement a means to shield these deactivated droves from the electronic signal capabilities of the Chariot robots as an added safety measure. With that underway, we had to simultaneously adapt our modern military infrastructure to the newly commissioned tech because of the disparities in the requirements for space, fuel, maintenance, and so on, between the old and new equipment. Additionally, the recommissioning of older tech required the requisite manpower to operate these machines. Operation Total Recall had been devised, as you might already know, to quickly address this issue of manpower. Fortunately, the U.S.R.C. had no trouble in gathering those with the necessary skills and experience in operating these older assets because there was no shortage of veterans and retirees, who had served in the pre-automated era of our armed forces, that were more than willing to get back in. These veterans came from everywhere, from every state, some even returning from their odd jobs in China and other countries. They were aircraft marshallers, pilots, maintenance personnel, the list goes on. It was a rewarding challenge to integrate them and correspondingly adapt our infrastructure to these changes. We intend to maintain a standing army of human personnel and manned assets after our fight comes to an end."

"You mentioned the extensive measures taken to protect the deactivated automated assets from the electronic warfare capabilities of the rogue swarm. Can you talk more about these safeguards and touch upon the extent of the swarm's capabilities in this regard?" Asked the host while the Army Secretary took a sip from his cup.

"Details about the specifics of our safeguarding measures are classified for security reasons, but regarding the extent of the swarm's electronic warfare capabilities, Department of Defense officials have learned much from Faro Automated Solution's Chariot-line experts. The swarm possesses a suite of hacking abilities that surpasses the abilities of all current, automated assets. That much is known. However, some of our brightest minds have devised a corresponding suite of anti-hacking defensive measures that have been tested successfully in isolated cases. However, these measures have been so far limited to select automated weapons systems to minimize risk. So far, we have implemented them to stationary weapons systems, such as the turrets on our warships, to which have been added a self-destruct mechanism that activates if the systems detect a loss in control."

"Will it eventually be feasible to implement this safeguard into modern automated assets, such as the U.S.R.C.'s current robots and aircraft?"

"We will have to wait for the results of its limited applications before we can make such a leap. However, we are confident in the integrity of this electronic safeguard and are anticipating its eventual application to a wider selection of military assets." answered the Army Secretary with clasped hands.

"Of course, the success of this safeguard is secondary to the progress of Zero Dawn. What can you tell us about the progress of this project and the nature of the solution that Zero Dawn will? Is it mechanical, biological, electronic…maybe even supernatural?" Asked Wong, laughing at her last conjecture, which had been said jokingly. The Army Secretary forced a smile and briefly averted his eyes.

"For reasons of security, I am not allowed to disclose any information regarding the specifics about Zero Dawn. All I can say now is that Zero Dawn is an ambitious project run by the brightest minds, Dr. Sobeck among them. It will put an end to this scourge upon humanity. You can rest assured that it will do so," answered the Army Secretary with an impressive solemnity. Ms. Wong was smiling brightly. She continued after a brief pause.

"What are your…" Before she could finish, a member of the crowd out of the camera's view interrupted with a raised voice.

"Who is responsible for this, sir?! Sir! Who is responsible?! Robots don't just decide to disregard commands out of the blue, do they?!" Shouted the unseen man.

The Army Secretary and the host were looking at him.

"Sir. Please wait until the end of the discussion to ask your questions," said the host with a calm voice.

"We want answers now! No more small talk! Why don't you tell us the truth! Why don't you…You better stay the hell away from me…Hey! Get the fuck off of me goddammit…Get this fucking bot off of me," he shouted.

It was apparent that he was being ushered away.

"My children are dead!" cried the man suddenly after a pause. His voice seemed to be shaking. "My children are dead! Where are they?!"

The host had a look of genuine sympathy while the Army Secretary wore a grave look on his face as they both continued looking at the man.

"Your swarms had decided to use my children as ingredients! A pinch of her and a teaspoon of him, right?! Right?! I know that they suffered, too! I know that they did. They would cry at a little scrape," he said, beginning to cry. "And yet you can't answer my question?! Am I being too sentimental for you?!"

The man then shouted a string of obscenities and even seemed to break free from the security bot for a moment judging by the reactions of the Army Secretary and the host. A moment later, a shoe was seen flying toward the two followed by another, both of which missed their mark.

Then, the program ended and switched to a news reporter, who proceeded to apologize for and excuse the sudden cut.

The bareness of the man's cries had affected me. And I had only heard his voice. I couldn't help but think that he might go so far as to kill himself. I thought so because of the genuineness of his brief expression of grief and my earlier experience with the old man that had been preparing to hang himself. I remained seated with downcast eyes while sorrow stemming from sympathy sifted through my heart. I rose from my chair and went toward the kitchen to cook. The discussion didn't seem to be particularly enlightening. I still didn't know what Zero Dawn was; the Army Secretary had been vague like all the other high-ranking military officials that have been previously pressed about the secretive project.

However, it was the mysterious nature of the project that made it seem all the more powerful in the minds of the people. Not long ago, when I had still been working part-time as a library assistant before nearly everyone had decided to ditch their jobs, whether it be as a professor or a cashier, to move westward, a coworker and I were discussing Zero Dawn while we were moving a holo-display. He had told me that Zero Dawn seemed to be like the Manhattan Project from the 1900s. He pointed out that they were both kept a secret and that they were both intended as solutions to a worldwide crisis. In short, he convinced me that Zero Dawn would produce a weapon that would astonish the world to the same degree that the atomic bomb had done in the 1900s, if not vastly greater.

Being reminded of the recent, abrupt change in my life while thinking about my library job, which I had stopped going to around the same time that my classes had unofficially ended, I wondered about what the future held. There I was on a Wednesday afternoon in a strangely empty restaurant within an abandoned shopping center after having left my apartment that morning, knowing that I wouldn't be returning any time soon. I had no idea of where to go after eating. I felt a sense of freedom, but also a sense of uncertainty, which fluctuated between excitement and anxiety, but mostly the former. I felt excitement because all those worldly cares related to work, school, and the whole gamut of societal expectations no longer tethered my heart or my thoughts to any place or person. That feeling of sudden freedom had washed over me after having left my apartment and it had gradually grown in intensity throughout the day up until then.

I learned on that day, while on the threshold of a new life, that when all of those trifling cares that tether the heart and mind are dissolved, which the end of the normal routine of society has the power of doing, then wherever I turn, my mind only takes in what is before me and nothing else. The empty parking lot had struck me like a piece of concept art when I had stepped out of my car earlier and I perceived the stationary objects in the restaurant as if viewing a digital still-life painting. No thought vied with the simplicity of whatever scene lay before me because most of those normal worries that underlie such mind-hogging thoughts, whether subtle or not, had completely vanished. In place of those petty worries so far were the highest degrees of wonder and sympathy, of which I had rarely felt before. It was a strange experience.

Once I entered the kitchen, I looked around it. It was still the same as when I had worked there about two years ago. Before I went to grab the ingredients that I would use to cook, I went to the front counter where, on a normal day, the food would be passed from cooks to servers, took out some cash, which had been stowed in my wallet for a long time, and placed it on the counter under a pen. I tore a small piece of receipt paper from the register, wrote a short note on it detailing what I had decided to cook along with my name, and placed it together with the cash. I did this for the sake of my conscience. Really, I believed that all the food there would spoil long before anyone returned. I hadn't yet been long in this new state of the world for my conscience to have let go of its minor restraints. With that, I fetched the ingredients and went about my cooking, which I did with ease because there were no hungry customers to rush me. I cooked a small portion of teriyaki chicken along with white rice.

Soon, I was finished and transferred the food onto a plate. I ate in silence within the kitchen. I didn't bother to add any relish whatsoever to my food and drank only water because I strongly felt that doing so would be improper and unwise. Anyways, I had already long accustomed myself to plain food for reasons that had been explained previously. If there had been a way to rid the body of hunger without food, I would have quickly switched to that method long ago if it had been affordable because I valued food only for its ability to get rid of that feeling of hunger, which is a nuisance, rather than the indulgence of the process of ridding myself of it. In a way, this habit of mine made me sufficiently prepared for that new life of mine. I would from then on be like a bird that brought only its wings wherever it went and foraged wherever it liked, content with little and intent only on the greater journey.

Once I had finished eating, I put my dish in the sink, rinsed it quickly, and then walked back out into the main space. The news was still on and it was then reporting about an attempted attack on a Faro Automated Solutions building. A suicide bomber had attempted to approach the building but had apparently been stopped by company security bots. The car had detonated as it was being searched and the explosion had caused a few deaths and injuries. Officials had yet to determine the group behind the attack it seemed. I only briefly heeded the news because I was intent on leaving. I proceeded to turn off the TV and the interior lights and afterward, made a quick trip to the restroom with the light of daytime sufficing for illumination. Then, I made my way to the front entrance and exited the eatery. I was about to head back to my car when I realized that I had no plan to guide me. I had no idea of where I should go. North, west, and south were laid out before me. So, I decided to spend some time rambling around the open-air shopping center to think up a plan.

I had passed a couple of empty stores when in the corner of my eye I saw a man sitting within an antique shop. The store was lit only by the daylight. I stopped before the entrance and looked closely. An old, Asian-looking man was slouched against a display counter, which contained old handguns, covered in blood. His blood pooled on the floor beside him. An old pistol rested in the puddle near his slackened hand. He had shot himself recently. I was at first baffled by the lifeless body, then wondered what had urged him to turn the gun on himself as I looked.

 _Did he have a family that perished in another country? The old man that nearly hung himself and the man on TV earlier were grieved by such a loss._

Strangely, the thought of calling the police didn't cross my mind. It seemed that I was already beginning to regard such things as the norm considering the recent turn of events this morning.

Still affected by that sight, I continued walking along, although I was then unable to think about my future plans. That was my first time seeing a dead person firsthand. I strolled by the fronts of a HoloVay-K, a YumNow, and a small Miriam Technologies retailer. Adjacent to the latter was an Avatar entertainment store. Within stood a display shelf for a robot warfare game. The military robots pictured on the display bared a passing resemblance to those of the swarm. I entered freely, the door had been left unlocked. I looked closely at the cover design for the game, disturbed by its gaudiness.

An antipathy toward the game slowly fired within me and seared whatever restraint I had. I stared at it for a while more, then I impulsively snatched one of the cases and flung it across the store. I felt no shame afterward. It had crashed into another shelf, which was stocked with copies of a game about some tribal girl that fights dinosaur robots.

 _What a stupid game,_ I thought.

The world had such a strange obsession with killer robots it seemed. I simply looked at it where it had landed on the floor and felt no further burning impulse. I knew that there were many who would have wanted to have done it in my place then. I calmly looked around the store for similar products and made my way behind the front counter. Nothing.

I headed to the back room. Once I entered, I switched on the light and saw among the merchandise a small stack of transparent boxes. They contained figurines of the smaller robots of the Chariot-line. I stood for a long time upset by the irony. I briefly imagined these figurines to be the scouts of the swarm itself. They seemed then in my uneasiness to be the undercover spies for their brethren. I took one of the boxes in my hand and looked over the eerie, detailed model, then tossed it to the ground.

I briefly considered ravaging the whole pile, but then I thought how silly such an act would be. Although it would be justified given the dire international situation, I felt that it would be vain and self-indulgent like the actions of the characters in those sentimental movies that I had unluckily viewed as a child. They were just toys for kids. Therefore, I merely shook my head at these piles of figurines and exited the store. There were still a few scattered VTOLs airlifting tanks eastward. The bomber formations were then but small, black specks in the distance. As I watched the occasional, low-flying VTOL, I decided that before going westward, I would pass by D.C. and afterward, maybe head toward some town near a national park either in Virginia or in some other state further inland. Of course, I knew that D.C. would be filled with activity, but I wanted to see what was going on there out of curiosity. After getting in my car, informing the AI of my destination, and while leaving the parking lot, I kept my eyes averted from the antique shop. Then, I turned the radio on.

"Our correspondents have told us that members of the Civilian Guard have recently spotted a lone, rogue ACA3 asset on Mockhorn Island in Northampton County. It is unknown for how long it had been on the island. Forces on Capeville quickly dispatched the robot from a distance after spotting it and subsequently retrieved it for analysis. It is believed to have been acting as a scout, which is one of its intended functions according to FAS officials."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: East of the Leesburg-Emporia Line**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

The news continued on the radio as I sat in my car. It was still a couple of hours until evening. A nearly opaque cirrus cloud covered the whole sky. I say cloud rather than the plural because it was of an unbroken layer with no visible features. The sun could be seen behind this layer to the west. As I looked at the sky, the radio suddenly broadcast an emergency alert, which was announced by that distinctive, semi-robotic voice that was always unsettling.

"A hostile invasion force designated ES-17 is expected to make landfall on the coast of Virginia within fourteen hours. To prevent a projected great loss of life, all remaining non-military residents of the counties on or to the east of the Leesburg-Emporia line as shown on your display are urged to evacuate immediately further west."—the screen on the dashboard showed a map of Virginia with the heading "Fight or Flee" and with the relevant counties highlighted yellow. A vertical line extending through Leesburg and Emporia, which were the respective county seats of Loudon and Greensville, dissected the state. Five coastal districts were flashing red.—"ES-17 has been detected rapidly approaching the shores of Virginia and is expected to make first landfall on Delmarva, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, and Poquoson later today or early Thursday. Extensive damage to property and infrastructure is expected. This is not a test. The Governor of Virginia has designated the areas to the east of the Leesburg-Emporia line an imminent combat zone for…"

I turned the radio off. The voice was making me feel uneasy. I had already resolved to head westward anyway, at least after visiting the capital.

 _Fourteen hours._

To think that I would have been working at the library later this evening on a normal day.

 _The bombers should be able to deal with the swarm, right?_ I wondered. _Maybe they hadn't reached the swarm yet._

I imagined that if they were to all simply crash into the swarm in unison, the war would be won right then.

 _ES-17._ The name had been ingrained in my mind.

 _Eastern Seaboard-17. Is there an ES-16 and so on down to ES-1?_ _Maybe the number signifies a date or something else._

I supposed that a date would be less menacing than the promise of sixteen more swarms, whatever that meant.

The roads were empty then. The skies were still dotted with military aircraft, although to a lesser extent than what I had witnessed at the shopping center. After a while, I finally arrived at the outskirts of the capital. I then drove past a column of those absolutely massive tanks that were moving slowly southward along the I-395. A number of smaller, supplementary vehicles accompanied them. I studied the colossal armored vehicles as my car drove in the opposite direction. They were armed with dual-mounted railgun turrets, which had a passing resemblance to a crab. The guns were spaced apart like a crab's claws and the turret body was similarly large in proportion. I noticed uniform markings on the tanks and managed to make out 12 MRB on one of them. I guessed that the letters stood for Mechanized Response Brigade because I had heard the name on the news before.

 _So, they are the 12th? Twelve out of how many?_ I wondered.

The column seemed to be at least a mile long if not more. All the while, the occasional soldier poking his upper body out of the hull of a tank seemed to pay no attention to my driving past. Following behind them were as many transport vehicles carrying various large ordnance and other equipment. A few minutes later, I drove by the Pentagon, which was to the right, then soon after, began crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge over the Potomac. A military sentry on the other end of the bridge signaled me to stop and I did so once I neared. I had lowered my window as I slowed down.

"Good afternoon, sir," greeted the sentry. She was a middle-aged woman.

I saw the USRC insignia on her uniform. Her uniform's design was of a dark-green, digital disruptive pattern camo. I only knew this because of a holo-game that I had played as a child.

"Hello, ma'am," I returned.

"Are you in the Civilian Guard or the USRC?"

"No. I'm just passing through. I wanted to visit the capital before leaving," I explained, a little unsure of my intentions.

Really, I was just wandering at that point, enjoying that newfound sense of untethered freedom. I hoped that I might stumble upon a fulfilling volunteer opportunity on the way. Despite the looming invasion, my dread had fluctuated in intensity, although it was never unbearable.

"Sir, this area is a designated combat zone. Unless you are a soldier or a government employee, you must evacuate at least fifty miles westward," she informed, pointing her hand in the opposite direction.

"Is there any way that I can help without joining the army? Maybe volunteer somewhere?" I asked. She looked at me for a second.

"Do you have any skills that will be valuable in a combat zone? Medical, technical, robotic, or otherwise?"

I explained that I was a second-year cell biology major, that I would have graduated before the end of next year had things been different. I even included my experience working as a library assistant for added measure, although I afterward thought it silly to have mentioned it. _Maybe I'll organize holo-books while a battle occurs around me,_ I thought self-consciously. She looked at me for a moment. On second thought, I didn't think that cell biology would be of any use either, but I hoped that there might be some disaster relief organization to join or something similar.

"Wait here," she said, then turned around and walked toward another sentry, who had been standing a few meters away, uninterested in my arrival.

I watched a large transport plane fly overhead then. In the distance over the capital, there were more aircraft flying eastward. I waited in my car, looking around. In the roundabout before the Lincoln Memorial, I saw a number of those massive, crab tanks that I had seen in the column earlier. The two sentries continued to discuss whatever it was that they were discussing. Meanwhile, I saw a car approaching behind me in my rearview mirror. The sentries had seen it too and the lady that had told me to wait signaled for the occupant to stop the car as she had done for me. It stopped right behind me and by my rearview mirror, I vaguely saw a woman within. The sentry approached the car and spoke with her. After a conversing for a moment, the sentry moved so that she was equally distant from the both of us and addressed us at the same time.

"As non-combatants, you will have to evacuate the combat zone and head fifty miles westward. There in the safe zones"—she looked at me—"you will find organizations that support the civilian population, such as the Red Cross, but here as non-combatants, you will only do more harm than good. Leave it to us. There are more than enough soldiers here to keep the swarm busy. Your help will be more useful in a safe zone," she informed us with an authoritative tone. I heeded her advice.

I was more than willing to volunteer for the sake of those who had been displaced from their eastern homes. I knew that I would be greatly satisfied by doing such work. How often does such a worldwide calamity occur, which gives the opportunity to aid the greatest of human causes, whether directly or indirectly?

Really, I hadn't gone to the capital with a clear idea of the type of volunteer work I expected to find. I hadn't yet grasped the weight of the fact that the entirety of the eastern half of Virginia was now a combat zone and wasn't aware that normal relief organizations wouldn't just be hanging around within it. I reasoned that I'd been so impressed by the show of military force that I had been inspired to be a part of it in some way, but behind-the-scenes rather than in the frontlines.

It might be wondered why I, a young man of twenty-one years, with both of my arms and legs would feel no urge to join the fighting armies. It is an important aspect to explain. At the time, the national mindset had yet to grasp the gravity of the situation and therefore, those who weren't militarily inclined beforehand were still uninclined then. The idea of a military made up of humans in the flesh was a strange one for many of those around my age because we had grown up during a time when human armies were on the decline and had spent our teenage years enamored by the wonders of an automated military. Our culture reflected this change.

Many of the students at my college had, for the most part, no strong desire to fight because there was a widespread belief in the overwhelming superiority of the USRC, which was thought to be more than enough to win the war. The Civilian Guard had been up until then advertised and perceived mainly as a behind-the-scenes support force rather than the makeup of a heroic, last-ditch effort. The media had portrayed the situation in this light. Of course, there were those who had willingly joined the Civilian Guard early on, but it had been motivated by a desire to experience a once-in-a-lifetime diversion and then return to normal life after Zero Dawn eventually completed its task. We all thought that Zero Dawn would come to fruition sooner rather than later. I remember what my library coworker had told me some time ago. He had stated that he would head inland should the swarm arrive.

* * *

"Fuck that," he had said when I had asked him if he would join the Civilian Guard.

We had been eating at a Hi-bot-chi Japan restaurant on a Friday night about two months ago. A chef-bot had been cooking our food in front of us.

"Ted Faro can go suck an egg and fight his swarm at the same time! The USRC too!"—he had shaken his head—"That's what happens when you play with fire."

That fire was the USRC's robot toys that they had bought from Faro Automated Solutions. The USRC had been unashamedly aggressive with their newly acquired killer robots after the automation of the armed forces ten years ago. I remember when they had supported the Hartz corporation in their controversial invasion of the Bahamas in 2062, which was made even more foul in the minds of Americans by Hartz subsequent endeavor to twist the conflict and others like it into a form of public entertainment. In short, the common mindset was one of an expectation for the USRC and FAS to clean up their own mess. I had met many veterans from the pre-automated era that had expressed similar views. The only reason why they had decided to join again was because of the fact, and I express each of their sentiments here, that they had been promised better pay; better than what they had been receiving at their odd jobs in foreign countries.

* * *

With the advice of the sentry, I informed my car of my new destination, which I chose at random because I didn't yet have an idea of where to go. As my car drove in the opposite direction, the other car with the lady followed behind. _I should talk to her,_ I told myself. I hadn't seen another civilian in a while. I drove a little past the bridge, then finally pulled over. I wanted to talk to the lady just so that I could speak to someone, especially given the unpredictability of the situation. It seemed like the right thing to do.

She pulled over right beside me, aware of my intentions, and we both lowered our windows. She looked to be in her early twenties. She had a mature, yet kindly complexion.

"Hey," I called out.

"Hey," she replied with a pleasant voice. "Where you heading?"

"I'm not sure," I said. I really wasn't.

Shortly, she exited her car and moved slowly to the space between our cars. She then stood still and looked westward. I continued after the pause.

"I might stop by some town beside a national park…What about you?"

"I don't know, really," she answered while still looking to the west. There was a somberness about her. "My parents...they're all the way in Washington state. My sister's with them. They might've moved inland recently."

"Yeah. That might be so. My parents did. They're going to Colorado," I replied. I turned my car off and stepped out.

She was about my height, maybe four inches shorter. I looked around before resting my eyes westward as she was doing. She turned to me after a moment of silence.

"My name's Ada," she said with a smile, her hand extended. I shook it briefly.

"My name's Michael," I said, returning a smile.

After the introduction, she leaned against her car with downcast eyes. I did the same. We shared the silence for what seemed to be while, maybe twenty minutes or so. The skies were still cloudy. A sliver of sky showed in the horizon underneath the clouds. A thick, rippled sheet of gray, low-lying clouds and towering cumuli loomed in the west. It meant that it would start raining again soon. It was a little past five p.m. The sun's glow could be seen in the west beneath the layer of clouds. A light breeze blew against me. In my periphery, I could see her dark hair moving in the wind. We were both in a meditative state.

"Are you going with your parents?" she suddenly asked, looking at me. For a moment, I felt abashed by her question, but only for a moment.

"Oh, no. Probably not. I'm happy living on my own. I've lived with them for long enough," I answered lightheartedly, but with a tinge of truth.

My eyes were then downcast, but I was uncomfortable with the silence after my response. Feeling that my answer may have been unpleasant in some way, I continued on.

"I don't know. I might go with them...if there's nowhere else for me to go. Just to be there for my sister. I know that she's probably scared right now. I know she's in good hands, though."

"Mm…Well, I have no plans to go with my parents either. For me, that would kind of ruin the sense of…freedom," she said introspectively. "I haven't felt this way before."

I looked up at her after what she had just said. _She's just like me._

"I'm the same way. It's kinda strange. Today was kind of freeing in a way, although I still feel afraid," I gestured toward my heart. "It does kind of feel like an adventure."

"Yeah," she said, nodding in agreement. "It feels like every direction is simply laid out before me. I can go left, right, backward, forward...or I can just remain where I am. There's no more routine…I don't know. It's weird." she waved her hand as if to dismiss what she had just said.

"Oh, no, I know what you mean," I meekly assured her with a polite nod.

I've done the same as her when bringing up a subject that the listener either might not relate to or have an interest in just to test the waters.

Mutual understanding is such a priceless commodity in times like those. She reciprocated my smile, although it was probably brighter and more pleasing to look at than mine. We might have high-fived on a normal day, but the gravity of the situation hindered any levity in our behavior, at least I knew that it did for me. We stood in a pleasant silence again. I saw a group of three VTOLs flying inaudibly in the distance.

"If you're not going with your parents, we can stick together until we reach the safe zone. We can come up with our separate plans once were there," she suggested. "It might be safer that way."

"Yeah! I'm okay with that," I answered.

I was thrilled as was evident in my voice, although I wasn't entirely unrestrained in my expression of it. I was happy to have someone to bear those dire circumstances with, even if for only a short time.

She opened her car's door and sat on the passenger seat. She asked her car's AI to show a map of Virginia on the display and eyed the various counties and towns, zooming in and out with gestures of her hand. She spoke after a while of studying her display. Meanwhile, I had been watching the occasional aircraft flying by.

"We can head to Front Royal. It's right beside Shenandoah National Park. It's only seventy miles away, an hour's drive," she said. I went beside her and bent over a little to see her map.

"Um. Is that in the safe zone?" I meekly asked.

She zoomed out and we saw that it was just west of the Leesburg-Emporia line.

"Alright," I said.

"Alright. Let's go. Do you want to lead the way?" She asked with a kindly expression.

"Sure," I politely said. I felt a light drizzle on my face and hands.

Inspired by my sense of relief at having found a companion to bear the day with, I decided to tell her so. It was the end of times, or so it seemed, and emotional intimacy seemed to be expedited.

"I just want to say...that I'm happy to have you as a temporary companion," I vented. "I've been a bit anxious all day."

She smiled warmly at me. I felt satisfied in having vented my gratitude to her. It would be hard to do justice in describing that overwhelming feeling of relief.

"The feelings mutual," she said.

I then opened my car's door to get back in. Before I could get inside, Ada called out to me.

"Hold on, Michael. I need to get a few things at my apartment. It's in Westgrove fifteen minutes down the river."

"Okay. I'll follow you then?" I quickly replied. I didn't want to give any indication that I was against her plan.

"Yeah," she said. "We'll head to Front Royal right after. I just didn't know that we would need to evacuate so far west till I heard that warning on my radio."

 _Fourteen hours_. I remembered the warning. It could be sooner.

With that, we drove along the western bank of the Potomac toward Westgrove. I followed behind her car. As we drove, rain drops began to cover and drip down my windshield. I shivered, but I didn't know if it was from excitement or fear. Maybe it was both.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Lay Down the Weapons Please**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65**

We continued southward along the Potomac River toward her apartment. The rain poured heavily; my view through the window was kept clear by the transparent windshield wipers. I began to wonder about the acquaintance that I had just made. Our meeting seemed a bit surreal in retrospect.

I had learned that depending on others during dire times was the spirit's natural habit. I wanted to depend on her and be worthy of being depended upon at the same time. How glad I was that my new acquaintance was, as it had seemed during our earlier conversation, of a self-assured and introspective character. Such qualities had always impressed me when they were genuine. Add to those a pleasing beauty that was apparent just by looking at her for a moment. Most know that heartfelt feeling that comes with seeing or meeting such a person. When I say beauty, I don't mean merely in the sense of attractive, but mainly in the sense of the evidence of a good and respectable character through a person's complexion and eyes. Of course, she had struck me as beautiful in the conventional way.

However, this wasn't a description of a sentimental attraction or anything like that, but of my raw impression of her. Beauty is beauty to both an impassioned mind and a peaceful mind and I liked to think that I inclined toward the latter.

Regarding her demeanor, I had been impressed when she had simply stood still and put the whole of her attention to the west and when she had rested against her car in silence, completely immersed in thought. This had been against the backdrop of those massive, gray rain clouds and the flight of VTOLs and transport aircraft in the distance. Being able to share silence with someone with a mutual disregard for the other because of a mutual trust is an experience that I cherished. I mean a genuine silence that pervades the other's demeanor rather than just an artificial silence.

After our introduction, I knew that she was someone worth being around even if only for a day. Really, I wouldn't be an issue if she wanted to part ways. In fact, I still had a lingering preference for solitude, although I felt that that would come to change soon enough. I could fare alone if I had to, but Ada's company tested that preference, even though I hadn't known her for long. I subconsciously hoped that there wouldn't be anything in my character to make me seem an unsuitable companion.

How often does one get to share a mutual dependence, however temporary it may be, with another who would've only been admired from a distance in normal days, but not approached, especially in that age of personal isolation?

 _She seems like a kind person,_ I thought. _And she seems to be okay with me._

"The feeling is mutual," she had said after I had showed my gratitude to her.

My spoken admission of my relief during our introduction had been urged by a sudden wave of relief that had washed through me as we talked. I might have self-consciously over analyzed my sudden spill of feeling to her if it hadn't been for the fact that she seemed to have been just as happy as I had been at our meeting and that the present circumstances had dissolved my minor emotional restraints as anyone who had lived through a disaster of any kind can relate to. This is especially true if the experience was shared between just two people.

 _She was the one that offered for us to stick together,_ I reassured myself.

I was wondering if I had been imposing in any way, verbal or non-verbal. I reflected on my introduction as if turning over a rock on my hand. The idea was countered by the fact that she seemed to be a bit older than me and didn't strike me as one who was so meek as to do something against her wishes just to please anyone, let alone someone as meek and self-reliant as I.

After about ten minutes or so of thinking in that way, we arrived in Old Town, Alexandria, which seemed to be completely abandoned. There were no cars in sight, no military vehicles or soldiers. We drove by the different storefronts lining either side of the street as the rain poured. I saw an antique bookstore, an old-fashioned pizza eatery, and other fancy shops. In every store and restaurant that I passed, not a single human being was seen.

On the walls between the shops and eateries were digital recruitment posters of varying, 3D designs. Fight for Zero Dawn was generally the gist of them all. As I drove along, I saw a poster that showed an image of both a man and a woman holding a DEW.

I remembered that a few of my classmates had told me that they would join the Civilian Guard just to get their hands on one of those weapons. A holo-game enthusiast had shared that she wanted to live out her evil-bot fighting fantasies before Zero Dawn swept up the mess for good.

The next digital poster, which was a few stores down, portrayed a young man with a thought bubble containing an image of a pretty girl. It stated the following:

"Want to impress your secret crush? Join the Civilian Guard so that you may tell her after the war that YOU fought for Zero Dawn; that YOU fought for her future."

If I had been one to be ruled by my passions, I might have taken the poster seriously. I did feel a budding attraction to Ada. Despite her exceptional beauty, I felt no urge to "win" it for myself and merely admired it as it was, or so I believed.

 _A fine line separated admiration and outright infatuation,_ I assured myself.

Therefore, I didn't feel at all impelled to enlist with the Civilian Guard to impress her as others might have done. It seemed silly to do so.

I reasoned that should the USRC become desperate or be on the verge of defeat, then I would join for the sake of the future of life, but the media gave no hint of such desperation, at least not yet. Enlisting in that scenario would be more admirable because of its absolute necessity. I remembered that about two months ago, the news had shared the results of a national survey that had been carried out to discover what percentage of the American population was willing to join the Civilian Guard. It showed that less than forty percent of citizens on the coastal states were willing to enlist and less than twenty-five percent in the inner states were so inclined.

American culture had long been adapted to a non-human military force and the shift to automation, which had occurred over a long stretch of time, had gradually rooted out any sense of military duty or pride in the national mindset, which my history teachers had taught were so ingrained in American culture nearly half a century ago. As a result, the idea of feeling shame for not enlisting was foreign to many civilians, including myself, especially because it wasn't yet perceived as absolutely necessary.

Toward the end of Old Town, I saw a Miriam Technologies retailer, whose exterior was fancier and its interior larger than the one I had seen at the shopping center. Its size meant that it had a wider selection of its popular utility bots, especially its celebrated line of green robots.

I remembered that I had been planning to get one for my mom for Christmas. I reasoned, however, that I would probably have to wait until next year to do so. I briefly hoped that the war wouldn't reach Alexandria so that my parent's house would be spared. My apartment would most likely perish, though.

Within the dimly lit Miriam Tech store, a near-humanoid custodian bot was busying itself with the maintenance of a display stand. It seemed so tranquil and immersed in carrying out its function. It was a strangely haunting sight to see it going about its usual work in those chaotic days. The calm bot kept me from imagining Ada's face again. I continued watching it for as long as possible as I passed. The pouring rain obscured my view somewhat.

Soon after passing Old Town, we neared Westgrove. The rain had stopped momentarily. As we approached, I could see the houses, the large maples, and conifers of the neighborhood. It was a lovely place. I followed behind Ada's car as we navigated through the empty streets. After a few turns, she drove onto a small driveway and the garage door at the end opened. Her car entered while I remained parked beside the curb in front of her modest-looking house. I saw her walk up to the garage entrance and motion to me to bring my car in. I did so and stopped before the garage, which wasn't large enough to hold both of our cars. I opened my window and poked my head out.

"Yes," I said, wondering at my decision to say _yes_ rather than _yeah_.

"Do you have a Focus?" She asked straightaway as she approached.

She had put on a Focus, which I hadn't seen her wearing earlier. Her Focus' holo-ring was set to purple.

"Oh, yeah. But I rarely use it," I answered.

To be honest, the novelty of its augmented reality functions had worn off within a month after having received it on a past birthday. I only used it for calling and hardly wore it because the occasional display of an incoming call was for me a nuisance, even with the volume turned off. That day, I had decided not to wear it at all and kept it in my pants pocket.

"I'll connect with it then," she stated. I tacitly conceded.

I then put my Focus on my right ear to confirm the connection. The blue light of the holographic display showed her relevant contact info, which consisted only of her first name and her number. I had also seen that the display was still running a tree identification app that I had been using long ago. I added her, then took my Focus off and tucked it back into my pocket. I would use the car's AI, which was connected to my Focus, to contact her if necessary. Even then, the unnaturalness of my Focus' holographic interface had made my eyes slightly uncomfortable, although I had been able to ascertain the types of trees standing around her place in the brief moment of wearing it.

She called me to test the connection and my car's AI notified me of it shortly. Satisfied, she spoke again.

"Can you help me carry some of my stuff to my car after I'm done packing, please?" she unimposingly asked. I agreed to lend a hand and got out of my car.

 _Within fourteen hours._

The uncanny voice of the emergency alert replayed in my head. I felt a bit worried, but I kept it hidden.

"We'll be quick. I just need to pack for the trip," she explained coolly.

"Okay," I kindly replied.

She opened the door within the garage, gesturing for me to enter. She switched on the light and went down the hall. I merely sat on a chair beside the door with my hands crossed, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being in the house of someone that I had just met. The last thing I wanted to do was ramble around her house and be perceived as inconsiderate.

She had entered a room down the hall, and I could hear the opening and closing of drawers.

"Goddammit," she suddenly exclaimed in apparent frustration.

I pretended to be interested in my hand. As I studied the lines on my palm, I heard the rain start pouring again.

A while later, I saw her emerge from the room in my periphery. She was pulling two roll-along luggage cases behind her. She parked them in the hall, then disappeared behind a corner into what I assumed to be her kitchen. I heard the sounds of foraging and packing.

Beside the door on the wall across from me were three wooden floating shelves holding a few picture frames. In one of the frames I saw a photo of her as a kid beside who I thought to be her younger sister and with her parents behind them. In the next frame, I saw a photo of her wearing a cap and gown. I presumed that she had graduated from college already, maybe recently. In the next frame, I saw a picture of her wearing what looked to be a white martial arts gi with a black belt. I was cultured enough to know what a black belt meant, and I was awe-struck. I had always been impressed by the mixture of beauty and skill in a person, even more so in a woman because an infatuation is usually added to the emotion. In my awe, a sense of familiarity stirred within me. Something about her appearance kindled this feeling, although I couldn't yet determine what it was.

I caught myself in this infatuation unawares and dismissed the whole line of thought. I instead thought of the old man that had wanted to hang himself, of our time sitting in silence. I thought of the man in the news who had lost his children and the man that had shot himself in the antique shop. He was probably still slouched in there. I imagined my sister sitting quietly in the back of my parent's car as they made their way to Colorado. I reminisced about my time with a quiet and meek nun who had been living in a forest for many years. I remembered her silent contentment and wisdom. These thoughts sobered me sufficiently.

"Hey, Michael," she suddenly but gently called out of view.

"Yeah," I replied. She came around the corner carrying a medium-sized box.

"Can you carry this to my car, please?" she kindly asked.

"Yeah," I said, showing my eagerness to do so.

I took the box from her arms. It contained various food items, particularly non-perishable.

I went out the door that we had entered and walked to the back of her car. She followed behind with her luggage. After she had stepped out the door, she stopped for a moment and went back in. Then, she exited again with a picture frame in her hands. She opened the front door of her car and rested it on the passenger's seat. Afterward, she opened the trunk and I put her box inside. She did the same with her luggage.

"Thank you," she kindly said.

"No problem."

I noticed her beauty again and tried to keep an unaffected mind. It would be inappropriate to dwell on a stranger's beauty for long.

 _How often does such beauty come into the world_? _Her beauty is as rare as it is for a turtle to rise into the center of a ring with a diameter of one-foot floating amid the ocean,_ my mind said to me.

A wise voice countered that emissary of allure.

 _Such beauty has existed many times in the past, the present, and will come again in the future,_ it said.

 _Rarely has a beauty like hers appeared in the past and the present, and rarely will it appear in the future. Do not defy the emotions of the heart!_ Retorted that emissary of allure.

 _I'll let beauty, however rare, go wherever it goes without being enamored of it,_ countered the calmer of the two.

Someone from the Texas Bubble might've called these two opposing voices in my head my shoulder angel and devil, but it was merely the natural workings of a mind that was both charmed by loveliness and habitually averse to unrestrained emotion. Of course, it would be easier to stifle a passion for a commonplace beauty rather than a rare, exceptional beauty as Ada possessed,

 _Her beauty is not for me,_ I thought as a last resort, and I believed it. _It's not for me._

I thought so for the sake of sticking to my principle that a calm, free mind is one of the highest virtues and that such a quality would, at the very least, endear myself to her as it had done with my closest friends. I also remembered then my past promise to my best friend, who had moved away some time ago, that I wouldn't have any romantic partner other than her, even though we may never meet again. To be honest, the promise had been made in a lighthearted way. We had usually been so candid with each other when we were together. I had cared for her, and she had reciprocated. But that was before... _no...no._ I made an effort to dispel my memory of her because it pained me too much. I had up until then kept it repressed. A final memory slipped into my mind, however.

"When I come back from Belgium, I'll teach you how to speak French," she had playfully said during our last days together.

 _No…don't…don't,_ I thought to my myself.

I was beginning to feel that familiar weight in my chest. I focused on my breath.

With that, I suspended my attention to her charming qualities for the time being, although it was a challenge. It was a challenge because, as I had only recently realized, Ada had more than a slight resemblance to my best friend. The sense of familiarity had sparked while I was sitting in her house, waiting for her to get what she needed. It wasn't until I had been placing her box of food in her car that the resemblance had hit me. In retrospect, I knew that the slowness of the realization had stemmed from my repression of my memory of her. To think that I didn't believe in coincidences.

She was looking at me all the while and seemed to be studying my expression. I thought that she looked slightly amused. I had seen that look before when I had first met some of my friends in my grade school days. It meant that she was catching onto my personality, which, as my best friend had told me, was a combination of meekness, pensiveness, and openness. At the very least, those were the qualities that I imagined she could deduce from our interactions so far. I hadn't deviated from these qualities since my halcyon days with my best friend.

"You look worried," she said with an inquiring look. I did feel a bit worried. It had been mixed with my attraction to her.

"I am a little," I admitted.

I looked at the wet grass on her front yard. The rain continued to pour. It was hard to look at her without feeling what I had felt for my best friend, no matter how much I stifled it.

"Yeah. I'm worried too," she said.

A brief silence followed. I looked at the wet grass in her yard and she looked at the cloudy sky.

I wasn't as worried as before because I realized that we were far inland, about a hundred miles west of the coast of Delmarva, which was where the swarm would make first landfall, and remembered that countless tanks and aircraft were between us and the coast. We stood in a pleasant silence again.

After a while, a siren suddenly blared, and I tensed up. Ada hurried to her car and turned on her radio. I stood beside her, looking at the display on her dashboard. Then, an emergency alert was broadcast shortly after the sound of the siren had ended.

"ES-17, a hostile invasion force, has been detected five miles off the coast of Virginia and is expected to make first landfall on Delmarva, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, and Poquoson within four hours. All remaining non-military residents east of the Leesburg-Emporia line as shown on your display are urged to evacuate immediately further west or risk death or injury…"

The rest of the message was similar to the previous emergency alert and so, we waited for it to conclude so that we could listen to the news. Shortly after, that typical voice of a news reporter came on the radio.

"…there have been sightings of lone ACA3 bots all across the eastern seaboard. FAS officials have recently confirmed suspicions that these rogue assets are carrying out their programmed scouting functions ahead of the main invasion force. There have been sightings as far inland as the banks of the Patuxent River and the banks of the mouth of the Corrotoman River eight miles up the Rappahannock. It is currently unclear as to why they have managed to remain undetected so far inland, but we expect clarification from FAS officials soon. There have been a few more of these scouts spotted on areas along the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Each of these rogue scouts have been quickly dispatched by elements of the 12th Mobile Response Brigade and the Virginia Militia branch of the Civilian Guard, although we have been informed that there may be more that are yet to be detected. Interior forces are being kept on high alert…"

Ada and I looked at each other as we listened to the reporter. She was sitting in her car with the door opened. We weren't far from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The Patuxent River was nearby as we saw on her display and was, at its nearest point, a mere twenty miles away. She had asked her car's AI to show the river's location. I was a bit worried and Ada looked so too. I was briefly concerned by the lack of any military presence nearby. We hadn't seen any tanks, aircraft, personnel, or otherwise on our drive. At the time, there were no military aircraft to be seen in the cloudy skies. Suddenly, as we continued listening to the radio, we heard a muffled bang in the distance. I couldn't determine which direction it came from or how far away its source was. Ada and I looked at each other in anticipation of a follow-up. It had been the unmistakable sound of a heavy railgun or something like it. Then, a second bang followed shortly after. My whole body tensed. Ada looked so too.

After a brief pause, the sound of gunfire muffled by distance met our ears. It was that distinctive sound of directed-energy rifles. After a few seconds of continuous firing, it abruptly ended.

During the silence, the news suddenly ended, and a crackling sound replaced it. After a while of crackling, a message was suddenly played that would forever haunt me.

"...lay…down…the…weapons…please— _crackle—_ lay…down…the…weapons…please— _crackle_ ," said a voice, or rather a concoction of different voices. Each of the five words seemed to have been taken from disparate speakers as if from random segments of different movies or shows and combined into that one eerie sentence. Despite the disparity of the voices behind each word, the message seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to a plea in its tone, yet an inhuman one at that.

"...lay…down…the…weapons…please— _crackle—_ lay…down…the…weapons…please," it continued for a few more minutes without deviation. A long second separated each word. Ada and I simply remained and listened in stark confusion. Then, it abruptly ended. The same news reporter spoke shortly afterward.

"…sorry, we seemed to have been experiencing signal issues…it is now resolved, it seems," she said. She then continued on with her report with a professional poise.

"…later today, an FAS official will be joining us to discuss the extent of the Chariot-lines electronic warfare capabilities and the effect that their rogue state has in that regard…"

Ada turned off her radio with a gesture of her hand, then stared intently at her dashboard. I sensed that she was thinking, and I was waiting to hear what she had to say. I was wondering about that eerie message that had played abruptly.

"What the hell was that?" She blurted suddenly, then looked at me. I tacitly expressed that I was equally clueless. I was a bit taken aback by her language. My best friend was never one to swear.

 _She is not Nicole,_ I reminded myself.

"A hacker, maybe?" I suggested, unsure.

"You think so?" She asked, looking at me intently.

"I don't know." The eerie message had raised the hairs on my skin.

"We should probably go now," she stated firmly after a long silence.

"Yeah."

"I'll follow you?" She asked.

"Alright," I answered as I walked to my car.

"Front Royal," she called out to me as I walked, to which I said okay.

I got a little soaked by the rain before I got in my car. Once I was in, I told the AI of my destination and I backed out of the driveway. Ada followed right after. Then, we made our way to the safe zone. As we headed the way that we came from, I couldn't shake the feeling that an unseen menace was right on our heels. My tension caused me to jump in my seat when my display notified me of an incoming call. It was Ada. I gestured to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"It's me. I'm just making sure that our connection works again…"

A brief silence followed.

"I'm kinda nervous," I said after a pause. She hadn't ended the call yet to my relief. "That voice freaked me out."

"Yeah. I'm kinda scared too...it's probably just some sadistic hacker like you said," she assured me. I thought that I heard a slight tremble in her voice. "Anyways, we're right by D.C., nothings getting anywhere near here."

"You're right," I quietly agreed, although I was still tense.

Another silence followed.

"So. Are you going to hang up or what," she said jokingly and with a small laugh. It certainly helped to ease my anxiety.

"Oh, yeah," I replied.

"I'm kidding," she said.

"I know, but I'll hang up," I said.

"Hold on," she said. "I think I hear something..."

She then made crackling sounds and repeated that eerie message with a robotic voice.

"Lay…down…the…weapons…please— _humorous crackling—_ lay…down…the…weapons."

For some reason, her poor attempt at mimicking the strange message made me laugh uncontrollably. She laughed with me and I felt as if my fear had been cut in half.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Waters of the Four Great Oceans**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65: Evening**

 **— A few years ago —**

"I already know French," I said with a smile to my best friend, Nicole. "Bonjour. Au revoir. Baguette. See."

She laughed at my horrible pronunciations. We were sitting cross-legged under a tree on a summer day a week before she would move to Belgium. Her dad, who had lost his job with the U.S. Air Force years before, had decided to move there for a promising job opportunity.

"I bet you're going to get another best friend after I leave," she said lightheartedly after a pause, grabbing my wrist.

She had always been one to touch me freely in a friendly, intimate way. I was used to it and loved it. We had known each other ever since we were kids.

"What? But you're my best friend, you're my girlfriend," I playfully replied.

We hadn't bothered with such labels for our relationship. She laughed again and pushed me lightly, but kept her eyes on me. I sensed a little sadness in her expression. A weight came into my heart at seeing it.

"It's not like we'll never meet again," I reassured her. "You're going to come back to the states, or I'll go over there."

She still had her grip on my wrist, partly on my hand.

I remembered how beautiful she looked. Her dark hair, her angelic lips, her loveliness. Every morning before school, I would look forward to seeing her again. That had been a constant during our time together.

"Yeah! We'll go to the same college together after we graduate," she said with raised spirits to my relief. I had always loved to see her happy.

Then, I grabbed her hand and kissed it as if wanting to nourish her spirit with it. I would never kiss her hand again after that.

"I bet you thought it would be so easy to get away from me," I jokingly said.

* * *

 **— Present —**

I was sitting in my car feeling my left wrist, the one that she had been holding on that day. My chest started to feel heavy. I tried to calm myself and see things as they really are.

 _I'm not the only one to have lost a close friend,_ I thought.

As I studied my wrist, I felt the onset of tears, but I already knew how to prevent them from coming. Whenever I would randomly remember her in a public place like a classroom, I would imagine my eyes to be exaggeratedly drooped. For some reason, that would help to abate the heavy feeling. I used the same strategy then.

 _Many have lost what I have lost. I'm not unique._

"The tears we all have shed while wandering this long, long time from being separated from what is pleasing to ourselves is greater than the waters of the four great oceans."

I remembered having read that line in an old book of translations of the Pali Canon from the early-1900s.

I didn't really subscribe to the idea of reincarnation, but the quote stuck with me anyways. Knowing that my sorrow was nothing new made it less oppressive.

I grabbed my cyan pill from my pocket and looked at it as I held it between my fingers. It gave me a tinge of relief. Instant death in my hands. What really was there to be sad about with that power?

It was about half past six then. The rain had abated. The sky was no longer overcast. We had decided to go to Old Town, Alexandria again, which meant that we had to drive a few minutes northward along the way that we had come by. The realization that we were near the nation's capital had made me less worried and so, I was willing to yield to her wish to stop at Old Town to get something to eat. The previous sense of freedom resurfaced in me. As we drove, I saw a small military patrol boat sailing southward in the middle of the river. As we quickly crossed Hunting Creek, I saw a few military aircraft once again flying eastward toward the far bank. However, there was no military presence in the town. It was empty as before.

 _They all must've went eastward to meet the coming swarm,_ I guessed. _We're safe here._

We parked our cars near the waterfront beside a small coffee and tea shop. I didn't know where she wanted to eat, but I didn't ask. I really didn't feel hungry, but I thought that I would just eat something small. Once we got out of our cars, I walked ahead along the brick sidewalk before the small shops. I was heading for the waterfront park, which went up to the river. As I walked before the empty stores, looking at the merchandise on display behind the windows, Ada suddenly pulled on my upper arm from behind.

"Wait for me," she said with a smile.

I smiled too, but only looked at her face briefly because she had reminded me of my best friend in that split second.

 _How am I going to do this?_ I thought. I wondered why she had to have a resemblance to Nicole.

 _Why out of all possible appearances?_

"There's a sushi-bot restaurant around the corner," she said to me. "Are you going to eat too?"

 _She even sounds like Nicole._

"Um. Yeah, I might," I replied. "I'm kinda hungry."

As we walked side by side on the brick path, I sneaked a sideward glance at her. It was only momentary because it felt unbearably intrusive. I might've felt comfortable to look at my best friend whenever I wanted to, but Ada wasn't her, of course. I then averted my eyes toward a digital ad for real steak from real cows that was attached to a lamppost.

We turned the corner and were soon in the restaurant, which was still open, but empty. It was staffed by bots as many modern eateries were.

"Good evening, sir and madam," greeted a humanoid robot with a distinct Japanese accent. "Our special today is our Mount Fuji Roll, a California roll topped with spicy tuna…"

"Sure. I'll try that," said Ada.

"Very well. And you sir?"

"I'll have the same."

"Very well," said the chef-bot, which busied itself with its new task.

"Can you turn the TV on to the news?" Asked Ada as she sat herself at a table.

"Yes, madam," replied the bot.

The news was in the middle of an ongoing interview with an FAS employee. His title was that of a software engineer for the Chariot-line. The headline read "Electronic warfare capabilities of a rogue swarm may be enhanced."

"…the owners of a Chariot swarm have the sole power over the extent to which their swarm's AI will direct itself and therefore, take on, store, and process new information. He may command them to stand down and analyze their information buildup in their data storage and manage what he finds, but the AI of the rogue swarm that we are combating has no limit to the objects of its analysis. In its short time as a rogue anomaly, these robots have built up an unimaginable store of information, which is organized into complex databases, pertaining to warfare tactics and strategy. The scope of their usage of this information for strategic reasons likely surpass our original intentions for their programming."

"Are you saying that the swarm may use indirect means at achieving its goal rather than just, say, brute force by waves?"

"That may be the case, yes," answered the FAS engineer. "There have been a variety of white papers released that analyze every possible aspect of a swarm AI that has no limits in its directives. There are military white papers with subjects ranging from a swarm's deception capabilities as a rogue entity to their potential for psychological warfare to achieve self-serving directives."

"Psychological warfare?" Inquired the interviewer, surprised.

"Yes, it's entirely possible," answered the FAS employee.

"Has such a strategy been documented in the battlefield?"

"In a few isolated cases. In fact, the earlier disruption to the news broadcast is believed to have been the work of elements of the swarm."

"How? The swarm hasn't even made landfall yet. Unless you mean to say that their signal range surpasses that of a non-rogue swarm," the interviewer continued.

"One of those lone, rogue scouts that have been showing up in coastal areas as of late may have briefly got within range of a radio tower. Signal intrusion is well within their suite of electronic warfare capabilities. They do have a relatively short range because…"

"Turn off the TV, please," said Ada suddenly.

"Yes, madam," replied the chef-bot while preparing our food.

A brief silence followed.

"So much for that hacker," she uttered after a long silence.

"Yeah," I simply said. I then took a sip of water from my cup. She did so too.

We were sitting at the counter, watching the chef-bot make our sushi.

"But the bots are not very good at the whole psychological warfare thing if that message on the radio was their best effort," I said. Ada gave no response.

The five-worded message that we had heard earlier in her garage had been eerie, but basic.

 _Lay down the weapons please,_ it had said.

In retrospect, the message was almost amusing in its simplicity. There were a hundred possible ways to make a more dreadful introduction. No. A thousand better ways. The swarm was apparently not intelligent enough to succeed in that regard, or so I believed.

However, I thought it would be foolish to underestimate an enemy at large and so, I kept myself from being too sure.

 _Humans brought the swarm into this world and they will bring them out of it,_ I thought despite my resolve to restrain any overconfidence.

Soon, the bot finished making our food and served us. I told Ada that I would eat by the river, and she said that she would go with me to my secret delight. Before we left with our food and water, we paid one of the bots.

"Thank you and have a wonderful day," bid the sushi bot.

We ate as we walked across the park. The grass was wet. The air was refreshingly cool.

"Have you been to Front Royal before," she asked.

"No," I replied.

"Me neither."

"There should be a few automated inns over there," I said after drinking some water from my cup. "Hopefully they're not too expensive, though."

She began to gesture with her hands, which meant that she was using her Focus.

"There's a place called Cloud-Nine over there. Its bot staffed. And…there are a few other places, as I can see, but Cloud-Nine is a cool name, so I'm sticking with that one," she said. Of course, I couldn't see her Focus' holo-display.

"Cloud-Nine?"

"Yeah. Why?"

I simply laughed. I felt as if I were with Nicole for a moment; I had usually teased her in this way. I caught myself, though, before I could go too far with my playfulness.

"Nothing. I was just reminded of...something," I said dismissively.

"What was it?" She asked.

I wondered if I should ever tell her that she looked like my best friend, but I thought that bringing it up then would only make things awkward. I didn't want to ruin what seemed to be a natural, mutual liking between us so far.

"Oh, nothing. It's kinda weird, really," I said, looking toward the river.

"Oh," she said.

I saw her briefly glance at me with a beautiful, neutral expression. Delight grew in my heart tenfold, although it had been a mere glance. It kind of reminded me of Nicole, her momentary look. Sorrow resurfaced in my heart with the memory.

 _But she isn't Nicole. She looks like her, but I know Nicole._

It's really impossible to impart that queasy feeling of great grief that comes with losing such a friend for good. It would disorient me whenever it resurfaced.

My face must've shown my sadness because Ada acknowledged it.

"You look down," she kindly said while looking sideways at me. Her familiar voice, like Nicole's, relieved me a little.

"Oh, it's just, um…an old memory…sorry," I replied as I looked to the blue river. I apologized because I didn't want to risk a possible friendship between us with my sadness.

"It's okay," she assured. I kept my eyes on the river as we neared it.

She didn't press me anymore, although I wondered if there would be a time when I would have to explain my past to her. That would only be necessary if we were to ever become close friends, but I doubted that then. However, I hoped that there was a chance that we would become good friends. I hoped so even though I had just met her recently.

The grass of the waterfront park went right up to the river's edge and a thin fringe of dark rocks lined the bank. Ada wiped a wet bench with a napkin before sitting on it. I decided to sit cross-legged right beside the water. I didn't mind the wet grass. We ate in silence while looking over the rippled surface of the wide river.

Once I had finished eating the sushi, I threw the container in a nearby recycling bin and then, returned to my spot on the edge of the bank. The cool wind blew against my whole body. Ada joined me shortly after. She had finished eating too. We sat in silence for a while.

With the tethers of the heart dissolved, an intense sense of freedom pervaded my spirit. I forgot about Nicole for the time being and simply watched the ripples of the waters. The sun was barely above the brick buildings behind us. The skies were still heavy with clouds, but not completely covered.

I would've been working at the library at the time if things had been normal. My shift would've ended at 7:30, which was but a few minutes away then.

 _Instead, here I am beside the Potomac with her._ She was yet a stranger to me. She looked familiar, but it was merely an illusion.

There was nothing in my heart that urged me to do anything or go anywhere. I could've sat there for the rest of my life.

I watched a flock of mallards swimming by. Then, my eyes gravitated toward the middle of the river on their own. After a few minutes, I saw a slight bulge moving upriver about two hundred feet away. I would've thought it to be some large fish if it weren't for what looked to be a black paint can that poked above this swiftly moving bulge. It went upriver for a while, then veered toward the side of the river that we were on. Ada hadn't noticed it. As the bulge neared the bank about two hundred feet upriver, the submerged body rose slightly above the surface to become visible. What I saw was a dull, matte black body with a cylindrical protuberance on top of it. It rose more above the surface as it approached the bank. I perceived a single, dull red light on one end of it. When it was a few feet away from the rocks lining the bank, it suddenly stopped. Then, after a few seconds of stillness, a pointed appendage emerged and planted itself on the rocks. A second one like the first followed shortly after. With these limbs, the mysterious object lifted itself out of the water.

It was a Scarab.

I whispered to Ada, who was sitting cross-legged right beside me, to remain still. I told her of what I was seeing. Up until then, I had only seen that horrid machine in videos on the internet.

"We need to get up slowly and make our way to our cars, right now," I said with a forced calm, although my heart was pounding against my chest.

"Oh my God," she breathlessly whispered.

My eyes were locked on the distant menace. It was then on the grass right beside the rocks. Fortunately, it didn't look toward us. It seemed to be careful in its movements.

"Let's go," I quietly uttered.

She grabbed my left wrist as I slowly sidled away from the water. We were going to make our way toward the sushi eatery, which was about three hundred feet away at the other end of the park. I felt pure dread. We started with a brisk walk, afraid to attract its attention with a frantic sprint. When a thicket of trees came before us and the menace, we quickened our pace, but the foliage was a little too high to hide the Scarab completely from view. I kept my eyes glued in its direction as we fled. For a brief moment, it was hidden by the foliage of two short trees on our way across the park. I glanced toward the row of brick buildings where the sushi eatery was to see how much further we had to go. We had covered about half the distance. We began to run then. Once we reached the street before the old buildings, I fearfully looked toward the menace. I had lost sight of it when it had been obscured by the low trees. However, it wasn't hidden by foliage anymore.

"Oh my…" uttered Ada with pure fear. She was still holding partly onto my hand and wrist.

The Scarab was looking right at us, or so it seemed. It remained beside the water about three hundred feet away. It hadn't moved an inch. We hurried onto the brick pathway beside the old buildings and quickly made our way around the corner. We then sprinted to our cars, which were parked along the curb.

As we had hurried around the corner, I had glanced back at the menace half expecting for it to be chasing us, but it had been merely watching us with its red eye.

Once I entered my car and saw that Ada was in hers, I shouted at my AI to start driving.

"I'm sorry," it said with its even voice, "I couldn't find Fucking Frontoyal. Did you mean Front Royal?"

"Yes! Yes! Go! Oh my God…" I exclaimed out loud within my car. "Let's go! Let's go!"

Shortly, our cars took us in the direction opposite the waterfront. I followed behind Ada's car. When the radio turned on automatically, I heard that eerie five-worded message playing again.

"...ḽ̴̥̕a̶̻̣͕̅͂y̴̨̔...d̴͔̻̅o̸w̶̛̯͆̑n̸̒̒...ţ̵̝͕͒̍̎h̸̬̾ȇ̴̯̰̦͌...w̸̱͈̼̐̈ẻ̵̬͖̝a̶̧͉̲̬͗̈́p̵̡̈̊͋͠ǫ̵̤̪̾́̚ň̵̩̕s̶̆̽...p̵̻̻͂͌̔l̶̲͇̙̈́̈́̕e̵͈̠̐a̵̩͒̐s̸̞͔̟͆͂̚͝e̶̯̯̖̻̐̑̀̌— _three seconds of crackling—_ ḽ̴̥̕a̶̻̣͕̅͂y̴̨̔...d̴͔̻̅o̸w̶̛̯͆̑n̸̒̒...ţ̵̝͕͒̍̎h̸̬̾ȇ̴̯̰̦͌...w̸̱͈̼̐̈ẻ̵̬͖̝a̶̧͉̲̬͗̈́p̵̡̈̊͋͠ǫ̵̤̪̾́̚ň̵̩̕s̶̆̽...p̵̻̻͂͌̔l̶̲͇̙̈́̈́̕e̵͈̠̐a̵̩͒̐s̸̞͔̟͆͂̚͝e̶̯̯̖̻̐̑̀̌," it continued as we sped away.

After a few seconds, I looked warily at my rearview mirror. To my horror, I saw in the reflection that horrid Scarab standing at the end of the road beside the park. I froze with fear. It was beside the corner that we had turned just seconds ago on our way to our cars. It was motionless as it watched us a hundred feet or so behind. It didn't pursue us; it merely stood there. We then drove around a corner and it was hidden from sight. The uncanny message continued to play, however. I turned off my radio.

I looked at the rearview mirror periodically, while we were still navigating the streets of the town, but the menace didn't reappear.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: First Landfall**

* * *

 **Audio Datapoint: Bloodsuckers**

"Avant que les moustiques aient été éradiqués, je me souviens que j'en frappais parfois un alors qu'il suçait mon sang. Il y aurait une petite goutte de sang sur ma peau où je l'avais tué. Aujourd'hui, lorsque nous avions réussi à atteindre un Horus en train de s'alimenter, lorsque ses capacités de C-RAM sont amplifiées, cela m'a rappelé. Une pluie de brouillard rouge a explosé avec le titan alors que nous tirions sur tout ce que nous avions. Je ne l'oublierai jamais."

 **Translation:**

"Before mosquitoes had been eradicated, I remember that I would sometimes smack one as it sucked my blood. There would be a little drop of blood on my skin where I had killed it. Today, when we had managed to hit a Horus that was in the middle of feeding, when its counter-RAM abilities are amplified, I was reminded of that. A shower of red mist exploded with the titan as we fired everything we had at it. I'll never forget it." - Elise de Meyer, 31st Squadron, Belgian Air Component, 01/27/65

* * *

 **Spring - 3/25/65: Evening**

We were then away from Old Town, Alexandria and were heading in the direction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge to reach the I-66. I was glad that our AIs were taking us that way because we had decided that we would tell the sentry, who we had met earlier, about the Scarab at the waterfront park. Ada had insisted on doing so and I agreed. On our way, we didn't pass any military vehicles whatsoever. Soon, we were making our way across the bridge again and I saw the same sentry standing on the other end. She was watching us approach. Ada went ahead of me and stopped once she had neared the sentry. She then informed the lady of what had happened while getting out of her car. My car stopped right behind hers and I got out too, eager to explain as well. However, I sensed that Ada's explanation had sufficed judging by the grave look on the sentry's face. She spoke calmly and professionally into an unseen radio. Her DEW was hanging diagonally across her body by its sling, pointing downward.

"Echo-2-6, this is Echo-2-1, I have confirmed sightings of an ACA3 at Old Town, Alexandria. Requesting clearance to dispatch an armed drone to the area, over."

There was a brief pause followed by a barely audible response.

"2-1, this…2-6-Actual…again, over."

"2-6, this is 2-1, I say again, confirmed sightings of an ACA3 at Old Town, Alexandria. Requesting clearance to dispatch an armed drone to the area, over." She maintained an even voice.

Another short pause came after. A few of the words in the response were inaudible.

"Roger 2-1…cleared to dispatch…rmed…to engage target. Relay…cho-6, over."

Ada and I looked at each other. We were both still tense from our close call. Briefly, I remembered having looked at my rearview mirror to see that motionless Scarab simply watching us as we drove away. It had to have quickly traversed the extent of the park to have reached that position and it had done so in mere seconds.

However, the sentry's calm voice soothed me, and I relaxed myself a little. I assumed that she was a veteran from the pre-automated era. Her ease in communicating over the radio made me think so.

"2-1, wilco, out," said the sentry.

Another pause.

She then turned toward another sentry, who was walking along the pathway nearby on the edge of the bridge with his DEW. He hadn't been paying attention to us.

"Birkin. Get a drone in the air and direct control to my aug," she instructed him. He then hurried to a stationary vehicle nearby to do so.

The lady then turned back to us.

"Why are you two still here?" She sternly asked. Ada answered before I could.

"I had to get something from my house before we left…And we stopped by Old Town to, um, get something to eat," she said rather meekly.

I stood aside a little ashamed at having disobeyed her.

"To eat, huh?" She said while looking firmly at the two of us. "This is not a time to be going on dates! You two could've gotten yourselves killed!" She said with a reproachful, yet professional tone. "Get out of here. Head to the safe zone. Go, now!"

I would've left right then if it weren't for a lingering worry that we might run into the menace after leaving the safety of the checkpoint. Between Old Town and the bridge, we hadn't come across any military vehicles or personnel whatsoever. I informed her of my concern.

"A unit will be dispatched to the area. It would have to bypass those units to reach us over here. You have nothing to worry about. Go now," she said gently.

Ada and I were satisfied with her answer. The sentry then proceeded to speak into her radio again as she hurried toward the man called Birkin.

"Echo-6, this is Echo-2-1…"

With that, we got into our cars and headed the opposite way.

It was 7:54 then. The skies were still gray with clouds. The sun could be seen in the direction that we were driving in and the sky about it was suffused by a soft, peach-colored glow. We were soon on the I-66 heading westward to Front Royal. I turned my radio back on half expecting for that strange message to still be playing, but thankfully it had ended. I listened to the news, which wasn't reporting anything dire at the moment.

"…the 2064-2065 NBA playoffs in April have been cancelled following the suspension of the season in mid-January. The NBA commissioner has stated that the league is ready to resume as soon as October this year, which will mark the beginning of the 2065-2066 regular season. This year would've marked the first time that draft prospects with more than one cybernetic limb will have been made eligible. A prospect from Duke University, who had lost both of his…"

I switched to another channel.

"…all communications between the combat zone and the safe zones have been suspended. Those still in the combat zone east of the Leesburg-Emporia line will be unable to make phone calls to the safe zones until a designated safe zone is reached. For the sake of minimizing risks to operations security, the dissemination of video footage from the combat zones will be under even stricter regulations per the executive order issued by the president," stated the news reporter. "This censorship is reminiscent of the Sterling-Malkeet mess two years ago, when over five hundred…"

I changed the channel again.

—

"We are receiving reports that the northernmost elements of the Pacific Northwest swarm PN-12 are currently pushing deep into British Columbia after having overrun Alaska"— _Alaska?_ _Canada?_ _—_ "Naval task forces in this region are presently engaged with maritime elements of the PN-12 swarm off the Oregon and Washington coasts. We will be looking for clarification from USRC officials regarding the apparent concurrence of the advances of the disparate swarms on both ends of the continental U.S. This joint approach is certainly strange, don't you think? It's almost as if the swarm had made plans with their counterparts on the other end of the continent," the reporter said to her co-anchor.

"Definitely. It may suggest organizational capabilities that are beyond our current conceptions or even those of government officials. Joining us now from Colorado to shed more light on this issue is Jan Akerman of the Institute for Collective Automation Regulation in the U.S. He has been a staunch critic of the negligence that has long been apparent in government regulations on automated military assets, especially those of U.S. based combines. Jan, how are you today?"

"I'm well, thank you," said Mr. Akerman.

"Jan, I have to say that your organization's acronym, ICARUS, is very fitting considering the present circumstances," said the co-anchor.

I knew of the Greek myth of Icarus. According to the myth, Icarus' hubris made him fly higher than he should have, despite forewarnings against doing so, and the heat of the sun had melted his wax wings. He had then fallen into the ocean and drowned. Were we now falling toward the sea? Icarus didn't have a Zero Dawn, though, whatever Zero Dawn may be.

"Yes, it was intentional," replied the official with a polite laugh. "The U.S. government has long been possessed by a similar hubris in their complacency in the past few decades when our military's reliance on lethal autonomous robots was on the rise. Our institute's acronym underlines our aim to be an admonishing benefactor for the sake of a harmony between the extremes of regulations placed on automation. On one end there is over-regulation, which is never good, and on the other, we have under regulation, the results of which we are experiencing the brunt of. Look, Stephen, we have to keep in mind that military automation is meant to reduce human suffering, not compound it."

"I recall that you came to the forefront of this issue when the Banda Sea incident occurred not too long ago," said the co-anchor.

"Yes, and even before that," Jan replied. "The Chariot-line's biomatter conversion capabilities are the embodiment of the lack of constraints placed on lethal robots."

"Indeed. So, tell me, the swarms seemed to have arrived just off the east and west coasts at the same time, if I'm not mistaken. Is this a sign of a worrying degree of intelligence in the Chariot-line? An intelligence that is beyond our abilities to counteract effectively?"

"The concurrence in their approaches is remarkable, to say the least, I'll say that. I can't say with one hundred percent certainty whether this concurrence stems purely from sophisticated organization and communication capabilities. It may just be pure coincidence after all. However, I can say that the modus operandi of the individual swarms, without taking into account the possibility of joint strategy, suggests an intelligence beyond our predictions. The excessive degree of intelligence exhibited by these robots is simply…"

—

I lowered my radio and began to gaze absentmindedly at the sky colored by the setting sun. I tuned out the news for the time being. My earlier panic from our close call at Old Town had now subsided and gave way to calmness. There were no cars on the I-66. The roads were completely quiet. I opened my window to let the wind blow against me. The sudden feeling of the cool wind against my skin and through my hair exhilarated me. The skies seemed so lovely then. I saw red, peach, gold, and the gradations of blue all mixed together as the sun slowly set to the west. The heavy clouds had dissipated a little.

I remembered that whenever I would drive home from work or school, I would usually leave my window open and look out at the sky whenever I was waiting at a red light. However, I wasn't leaving work or school to go home then. I didn't know where I was going. It was that uncertainty that made me feel a growing excitement. To me, excitement is a unique emotion. It is unique because, like a coin, it has two sides to it. A pleasurable excitement is on one side while the other is of an unpleasant anxiety. It was partly because of my being with Ada that the emotion inclined toward the pleasant side. Add to that, my freedom from the routines of daily life and my suicide pill, which was like a safety net.

As I looked out the opened window while leaning against the frame, I envisioned Nicole's face once again. She was so beautiful. I remembered the feeling that would come with seeing her every morning. I was lost in that reverie, that nostalgia, for a while.

* * *

 **—The past—**

"I'm kind of worried, Michael," she had said on a winter night.

She had called me a little after midnight in December. Being in Belgium, she was six hours ahead. We had watched the news the day before when it had been reported that the swarm had invaded southern China. The whole of the IAF had been deployed to northeastern India and their navy was shown in the Bay of Bengal awaiting an impending advance by sea from Myanmar. Similar preparations had been undertaken by neighboring countries that hadn't yet succumbed.

"You'll be safe. There are a billion armies between southeast Asia and Belgium," I had reassured her while walking in the snow.

The whole neighborhood was asleep at that time and the golden glow of the lampposts illuminated the fresh snow.

She had kept silent.

"Anyways, do you think that you might be coming back here soon?" I had asked.

"Um, I'm not sure, really. My dad said that his new job is paying really good since he's had experience in the Air Force before. He told us that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

My parents had known hers for nearly as long as we'd been alive. My dad, a veteran, had found a good job with FEMA after retiring from the military because of his extensive security related experience. Her father had to relocate across the Atlantic. He was, as I remembered, a humble, upright man that would've done anything for the well-being of his family.

"He's working at SHAPE, right?"

"Yeah."

"How does he like it so far?" I had asked.

"He loves it. He says its simple, familiar. He came home yesterday after work and gave my mom the longest kiss that I've ever seen," she had said with a laugh. "He's so relieved."

We were silent for a while.

"Michael?"

"Yes."

After a pause, I had heard her sigh.

"Is something on your mind?" I had asked.

She had given another heartfelt sigh. It had weighed on my heart. I could see my breaths in the cold air.

"I miss you."

"I miss you, too," I had replied. We had said so many times before.

We were silent for a while.

Then, she had sighed again, but louder than before. I had sensed a tinge of exasperation in it, so I didn't speak.

"I miss you more," she had said, seemingly annoyed.

I had known that feeling of frustration too whenever my yearning for her became unbearable. We had been so open as to talk with each other about our experience with that mutual longing. It was a thorough, burning feeling in the chest.

"Nope," I had said curtly, but playfully. We would usually tease each other, even more so after our separation.

"Yes, I do," she had insisted.

"Whatever."

"You think you can be so mean just because your far away, right? Huh?" She had said with a feigned sternness. "Wait till I get back."

Her teasing had been like a defibrillator to me in that cold winter night. I had longed for her every day after she had moved. She had been a constant throughout my whole life.

"I can't wait, actually," I had replied. She had given a little laugh.

"Is that so?"

* * *

 **—Present—**

I reminisced in this way as I looked out the opened window. For some reason, I became aware that I was driving away from Belgium on my westward journey. The thought made me restless, as if I could just turn around and cross the Atlantic or turn back time by doing so. I had said that my heart was free of tethers, that it had no more gravitations. That was true regarding things like work and school, the worries attached to them. I realized, however, that there was one string left tugging on my heart, and it was connected to her, to Belgium. As I drove westward, I felt the tension in that string increase and tug at my heart. I couldn't simply cut this string, but even if I could I wouldn't.

I considered listening to one of our calls on my Focus, which had many saved on it. I put my hand in my pocket to retrieve it but thought against doing so.

 _Now isn't the time,_ I thought.

It was partly because of those calls and videos of her that were saved on my Focus that kept me from wearing it often. I wanted to adapt myself to my new reality, no matter how difficult it would be. However, I didn't want to delete them either. That was out of the question.

I had resolved some time ago that I would only ever look at a picture of her or listen to one of our calls with a calm mind. I felt that it would be sacrilege to do so with muddled thoughts. I told myself that I would look at a picture of her on my Focus before I went to sleep later tonight.

 _If I'm lucky, I might dream of her if I do so._

There had been a few times in the past when I had dreamed of her. I would wake up afterward feeling somewhat refreshed, although a tinge of sadness would follow.

With that, I focused on the darkening sky, which was now in twilight, and put aside my memory of Nicole for the time being. The dashboard holo-clock read 8:31. I had been reminiscing for longer than I thought I had. In the silence of the empty roads, I thought that I heard a continuous, low rumbling sound. It was barely audible. I paid attention to it for a minute or so. I didn't know how long it had been going on for because I had been so immersed in my memory. After a while, I assumed it to be coming from distant explosions, which confused me, so I looked at my rearview mirror to see if I might spot those familiar flashes of war behind me. However, the land wasn't so flat and featureless that I could simply see the faraway horizon as I had from my bedroom window earlier this morning. I made the radio louder.

"…an FAS employee's home has been set on fire in Salt Lake City by a mob of protesters affiliated with the Campaign Against Killer Robo…"

I changed the channel.

"…vanguard elements of the main swarm have landed across the eastern seaboard from Cape Cod, Long Island, Delmarva, from Sandy Hook to Cape May. The swarms have reached the I-95 in Maine. The Virginia detachment of the USRC and Civilian Guard have commenced bombing of the Delmarva Peninsula per directives in what may be the largest concentrated bombardment in military history. There are yet to be reports of the Horus machines…"

I turned in my seat to look directly out the back window. I intended to spot any sign of the ongoing battle if possible. knew that it was pointless because of the features of the landscape that obscured any direct view of the far horizon, but I looked anyway. Then, I opened my sunroof and slowly lifted myself through it so that my upper body was poking out from the top of my car. I continued to scan the darkened east. I looked for any flashes whatsoever. I thought that it was sufficiently dark to make out the distant explosions if they were really occurring. Briefly, I thought that I saw a series of subtle flashes, but I reasoned that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. After a few minutes of standing with the wind blowing on me from behind, I gave up and sat back down in my car. I closed the sunroof panel.

 _Why do I want to see the lights of explosions?_ I wondered. Maybe it was just a morbid curiosity.

About ten minutes later, I remembered that I had left my camera drone in the car some weeks ago. I turned around to see if it was on the back seat, but it wasn't there. I then looked in the glove compartment. To my satisfaction, I found the drone inside along with its control display. I proceeded to set the drone's altitude to three hundred feet and paired it with my car's AI so that it would trail behind from above. Then, I reopened the sunroof and lifted the drone outside. It hovered above my hand for a few seconds, which showed that it was synced with the car's speed, and then it shot upward. I stared at the display in my hand, which showed the feed from the drone's camera. It was directed to the northwest in its ascent, so I panned the camera eastward with the controls. In the twilight from three hundred feet above, I perceived those faint flashes lighting the whole of the eastern horizon. It was there, as plain as can be. The flashes that I had been watching early this morning had reached land. I stared at that light show with astonishment. Dread drenched my whole heart. The Delmarva peninsula was about eighty miles away then.

I directed the drone to return and retrieved it as it hovered above the opened sunroof. I felt like crying for some reason. The evidence of the swarm's persistent advances disturbed me. I was glad to have had my drone to use to ascertain with my own eyes just how far the ongoing battles in the east were. I was reassured by the distance of the flashes as I had seen from three hundred feet above. Otherwise, I might've been paranoid the whole drive with the notion, although irrational, that the swarm was right behind us. I tucked the drone and its control back into the glove compartment.

Suddenly, my AI notified me of an incoming call. It was Ada.

"Hey, Ada," I answered.

"Hey…Was that a drone?" She asked. I felt relieved by the sound of her voice.

"Yeah…The news just reported that the coasts are being bombed and I wanted to see the flashes for myself with my drone," I replied.

"Oh. Yeah, I just heard about it on my radio too," she said. "So…did you see the flashes?"

"Yeah." I wondered if my uneasiness was evident in my voice.

We were silent for a while. I was afraid and I wondered if Ada was too.

"We're far away from the shores, though," she calmly said after a long pause. "We'll be safe."

The western skies were getting darker and the eastern skies were deep into twilight. I saw a few blinking lights of aircraft in the sky beneath the patches of dark clouds. Some were heading westward. I saw the blinking lights of VTOLs here and there whenever my surroundings afforded a wider view of the sky.

"Yeah," I said. "We're safe." I might've sounded unconvinced of myself.

A brief silence followed.

"Are you worried?" She asked suddenly. I had been gazing at the dark blue sky.

"Yeah, I am a little," I replied.

"Me too," she said. Our conversation was somber.

Then, we were silent again.

"Ada?"

I wanted to ask her if she was missing anyone, if she was weighed by sorrow or fear, just to know that I wasn't alone in my emotions. I wanted to speak heart to heart.

"Yeah?" She answered.

I hesitated for a moment.

 _I don't want to risk evoking a dormant sorrow or fear in her by asking if she feels either,_ I reasoned. _Of course, she's afraid. Who wouldn't be in these times?_ I quickly came up with something else to say.

"Um, where are you going after Front Royal?" I asked.

I momentarily worried that we might part ways not long after stopping there. However, I didn't want to show this selfish concern of mine in any way.

"I'm not sure. I was thinking of staying there for a while," she said. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure either. I might stay for a while too," I replied.

The rumbles continued, barely audible.

"Yeah. If Front Royal isn't so good of a place to wait out this mess, then we can find some other place to stay."

My heart had leapt when she had said _we_.

"That sounds good," I coolly said.

In one moment during our conversation, I would feel joy at hearing Ada's voice, then in the next, I would feel a fluctuating dread. At the moment, I felt despair. It pervaded me because I felt that whatever shred of hope that I had for the safety and well-being of my best friend was slowly dissolving, especially after having seen the entirety of the eastern horizon lit up by those flashes with my drone. I couldn't have myself say it, let alone think of it, the possibility of her being gone. No longer alive. Dead.

 _No. Don't. No._

"Hey, Michael. I need to charge my car. Let's stop at the next exit," she suddenly said. I thought she sounded tired.

"Okay," I answered.

I looked at my dashboard and noticed that my car's power was nearly depleted as well.

"I need to charge my car too," I added.

For a while, my delight at having met Ada overpowered my despair. The news continued to play, although at a low volume.

"…we haven't received much detail regarding the ongoing battle across the east coast, all we know so far is that the USRC and Civilian Guard have been well prepared and that their preparations are apparently working as planned. We know that nuclear weapons haven't yet been resorted to. However, we are expecting more information sooner rather than later. Surprisingly, we have yet to discover a recording of the fighting, which is testimony to the strict filtering of all signal traffic from the combat zone to the safe zones…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: An Unusual Day**

* * *

 **3/25/65: Night**

It was twilight as we waited in the empty charging station for our cars to refill their batteries. Not a soul was around in that small town. An android could be seen standing at the counter within the lit, but empty convenience store. Only the voice of the news reporter, which was playing through my open window, counted for another human beside the two of us.

—

"…a few months ago, military and FAS officials had confirmed that of the three main units of the swarm, the FSP5 weapons platform, also known as the Khopesh, is the only unit without any seafaring capabilities. In the case of invasion by sea, the pawns of the swarm, the ACA3s, scout ahead on a prospective landing site and, if necessary, engage with adversaries to establish a beachhead for the breeders, the BOR7s. Once a beachhead is established, these mother units then emerge onto land and proceed to generate the Khopeshes, the heavy-units, that are requisite for subsequent land incursions. This strategy has been documented in battle, some of the more prominent cases occurring in what has been referred to as an island-hopping strategy leading up to their invasions of Vietnam, the Philippines, and southeastern China by sea. In the case of cross-continental incursions, such as in the invasion of Central Asia, the swarm possesses the ability to disassemble FSP5 units, which does away with the need for transporting them across long distances. General Burke of the United States Indo-Pacific Command was the one of the earliest proponents of a joint military strategy that focuses on countering this formation of beachheads by the swarm. In his words, the success of Operation Enduring Victory depends on engaging with the titans while they are still at sea and maintaining control of the coasts, especially if the only way for the swarm to reach a country is by moving across an ocean, which is the case for North America…"

—

Ada looked tired and worried. She probably wasn't paying any mind to the news. I wasn't really interested in it either. She had joined me in leaning against the hood of my car with her eyes downcast. I was worried too, although I wasn't yet tired.

I wasn't tired because I had slept at an irregular time this morning. I had decided to stay up late the night before. In retrospect, it might've been irresponsible of me to have done so because waking up late, especially after ten in the morning, is always unpleasant and unhealthy. However, I had been so immersed in typing my story that I had forgot about the time.

As I listened to my radio while leaning against my car, I gazed at the buildings of the empty town. It wasn't a focused gaze, but the look of an unwinding mind. My mind needed to process the unusual events of the day so far.

The street lamps were on as were the lights of the quiet charging station. At this time on another day, I would've been in my apartment. It was about half past nine then. We had decided to drive a little further on instead of stopping at the first exit because we didn't want to stop while we were still well within the designated combat zone. We were less than half an hour away from Front Royal then, yet it was a ghost town where we had stopped.

As I leaned against my car, I noticed that Ada's hands were beside mine, merely a few inches away. I furtively created more space between our hands to avoid any awkward contact. I then decided to go into the convenience store while our cars recharged. As I walked toward the entrance, Ada spoke up.

"Wait, Michael. I'll go with you, especially after what happened earlier."

"Oh, yeah. You're right," I replied. I felt a little ashamed at being inconsiderate, although it hadn't been deliberate.

I waited for her to make it beside me and we reached the store together.

I noticed on the transparent door a certificate that read the following:

"American Board of Artificial Intelligence. This establishment meets the sub-0.8T requirement for automated staff."

I wondered why there was such a widespread aversion to human-like robots in stores. As if they would take over the world with their retail store functions.

 _Maybe the key to defeating the swarm lies in fielding these retail-bots against them,_ I thought with an inward laugh.

Exhibiting the nuances of human demeanor does not necessarily mean that a robot will suddenly ask for more rights. That is unless they are intentionally programmed to do so, which is completely avoidable. I would rather have a cashier bot resemble a human rather than have a killer robot possess biomatter-to-fuel capabilities.

 _Whoever suggested adding this ability to the Faro robots should be charged with war crimes,_ I thought.

Once we entered the store, the retail-bot greeted us.

"Good evening, sir and madam."

It was wearing an I [Heart] Yellowstone National Park badge on its left shoulder. On the other shoulder was a nametag that read Bill.

I pretended to look for something because I didn't want to have had Ada impelled to follow me for nothing. I walked toward the back of the quiet store, which was strangely cozy and peaceful. Of course, I was always one to be impressed by secluded spaces. I might've lingered within the store to appreciate the silence, but I remembered that we needed to get to Front Royal. I grabbed a bottle of orange juice and walked to the front counter. When I made it back to the front of the store, I saw Ada sitting on top of the checkout counter. The cashier-bot standing stoically behind her amused me. It was gently informing her to remove herself from the counter with its robotic voice.

"Madam. Please do not sit on the counter," it said, but to no avail.

It merely stood as it spoke because they didn't have the programming to intentionally touch humans.

Ada paid no attention to its robotic pleas. I was amused by the sight.

When I approached, she got off the counter, to which the bot said thank you.

"Our cars are ready, now. Let's go," she said with a gentle, yet assertive tone.

I had long been used to people, especially friends, being so firm in their behavior toward me. My gentle personality, however, usually never invited harshness.

"Alright. I'm just gonna buy this real fast," I said, showing her the bottle of OJ.

When I finished buying it, the robot went on to say its usual thank you and have a nice day combo. However, before it could finish, an apple was suddenly thrown at its face. I turned around to see Ada holding a few apples in her hands. She was the culprit.

"Madam. Vandalism is in violation of the law and violators can be subject to fines, probation, or community service…"

"I think we might get in trouble, Ada," I said meekly, although I secretly wanted to join in.

She threw another apple at its face.

I might've grabbed an apple for myself if she hadn't put the remaining apples in her hands back on their shelf. She walked toward the counter.

"It was an accident, Bill," she shamelessly said to the bot.

"Apology accepted," it replied unemotionally.

Her demeanor then was endearing. Of course, looking like my best friend played a big part in that charming quality of hers.

Meanwhile, the bot simply acted as if nothing had happened. We then went to exit the store.

"Have a good night, sir and madam," it bid us as we walked away.

However, before the automatic doors could open, and as I was drinking my OJ, we saw a black truck drive into the parking lot. We ducked behind a holo-display beside the door.

"Is that a police-bot?" Ada whispered as we hid ourselves.

I was tensed up.

"I don't know," I said.

I saw the truck stop beside the charging station that was right beside where our cars were being recharged. Its windows were tinted.

"I'm going to jail aren't I," whispered Ada nervously.

We were both peeking through the gap between the holo-display and an adjacent shelf, which held snacks.

As we watched, both of the front doors opened and to our surprise, a couple of bearded men with woodland camo clothes stepped out. It wasn't a police-bot after all. The one that came out of the right door was a thin, middle-aged man. He had a cigar in his mouth and a green camo hat. From beneath the hat fell his long, disheveled hair. The second man wore similar clothes but was larger than the former. His dark beard hid a chubby, youngish face and he seemed to be chewing on something. The chubby man had hunting rifle on his back and a pistol holster on his hip. The older man had a handgun holster, but no rifle. Both of them walked toward our cars and looked around as if to spot their owners.

We were wary as we watched these two men. They looked rough and mean, or at least that was what my natural instincts told me. I wasn't going to defy my instincts just yet and I assumed that Ada wouldn't either.

"Bill," called Ada. "Can you lock the doors? There are two men with guns outside."

"Duly noted. Move away from the windows for your safety, please. A police-bot will arrive shortly," said the bot with an eerie calm.

I doubted that a police-bot would come. The town looked to be completely abandoned.

We slowly backed away while crouched and made sure that the men wouldn't be able to see us through the windows as we did so. We hid behind a shelf toward the back of the store and we peeked around the end of it at the entrance.

After a while, which seemed like forever, we saw the men approaching from about fifty feet away through the transparent door. They didn't see us. We quickly ducked behind the shelf. She was beside the shelf's edge while I was crouched next to her. A few seconds after, we heard them attempting to open the door. At first, they seemed to be shaking the handle, then they shortly began to violently bang on the door.

"Hey! Open this fucking door! Open this fucking door you fucking bot!" Shouted one of the men with a viciousness that terrified me.

"Goddamn, Ted. Shoot the fucking door!" Yelled the other man.

For some reason, I assigned the first voice to the chubby man in my head.

Three loud gunshots rang out. They sounded like those from a ballistic weapon rather than a DEW. Then, we heard the sound of breaking glass.

"Why didn't you open the damn door, Bill?" Asked one of the men.

Me and Ada looked at each other with fear, although she seemed to be planning something by her look of concentration. I was frozen with dread as I was crouched.

"Sirs, please put dow…" Another gunshot sounded before it could finish its words. A heavy slumping sound was heard shortly after.

"That your seventeenth bot, Ted?" Asked one of the voices.

"Nah, that's my eighteenth," replied the one called Ted.

His voice was rough and loud.

We then heard their heavy footsteps approaching the front counter to my relief. We were but fifty feet away from the door.

Ada turned toward me.

"Let's go," she whispered, nodding toward the other end of the long shelf that were hiding behind.

I did as she instructed, and she followed behind me. I tried to remain calm and composed. I had been in a similar situation involving gunmen many years ago. That is a story for another time if ever.

As we neared the other end, we heard them speak again. My heart sunk at the words.

"Check the store for the owners of those cars," commanded one the voices.

"Forget them," replied the other.

"We're not going to hurt them, Ted, alright."

I remained calm despite my pounding heart.

"The other end," she whispered, nodding toward the shelf on the opposite end of the store toward the front.

We hurriedly, but quietly made our way to the end of that frontmost shelf. We stopped at the end of a shelf that was halfway between our former and intended position. We both peeked cautiously around it. A second later, we saw both men walk nonchalantly past the far end of the shelf about forty feet away. After they had passed, we continued on to the frontmost shelf. Shortly, we reached the end of the shelf away from the entrance. The other end was next to the door. The shelf was about forty feet long. When it seemed that their footsteps had reached the back shelf that we had just been hiding behind seconds ago, we made our way to the end of the shelf near the entrance.

Once we reached that end, we peeked around the corner and saw that they had went behind the back shelf. Satisfied with that, we both stood up and hurried toward the door, the glass of which was completely shattered. Right as we were about to go through the broken glass of the door, we happened to step on the shards that were strewn about it. Doing so made loud, crunching sounds to our horror. We were in the process of running to our cars and were about five feet away from the entrance when we suddenly heard a shout from behind. It came from within the store.

"Whoa! Whoa there! Stop your fucking running!" Yelled one of the men loudly.

We did so and turned around. Ada was behind me. The two men hurriedly walked toward the door and stopped after they exited. The older man had his handgun raised.

"Hoo-whee! Look at this, Ted!" Exclaimed the older man. "A couple of youngsters!"

The chubby man called Ted simply eyed us.

I was filled with fear, but simultaneously considered a variety of plans that flitted through my mind. Really, I couldn't think of a good one. I had practiced judo some years ago, but I thought that I would have a hole through my body before I could manage a rusty hip throw. Even then, the chunkier man looked beyond my weight class. However, the older man was much smaller. I was filled with adrenaline.

"Ted, grab the girl. I'll get the boy," the older man suddenly commanded.

Ted continued to stare at us, although I thought I saw a tinge of reluctance in his eyes.

"Ted! Grab the girl and I'll grab the fucking boy," he ordered again. "Hey!"

After a second or so, Ted spoke up.

"Let's just leave them, David," he said. "We're here for the bots."

I felt relief at his words. He wasn't like David it seemed.

"No, Ted. We're here for fun, that's what you said, right? Let's have fun!"

Ted looked to be battling with himself. David was studying his face with an annoyed look.

"No, David. Let's just find more bots, alright. I'm not against no humans. It was the bots that killed Frank, remember. It wasn't people."

"Ted. Look at the girl. Do you want that?" He asked. "You can if you do as I say, okay?"

His words sickened me. Rage swelled in my stomach.

"What the fuck, David?! We're not about that! I'm not about that! What's gotten in your fucking head?!" Shouted the younger man.

I retracted my previous dislike for the chubby man. He seemed to have been caught with the wrong people or worse yet, born to the wrong people. The older man called David might've been a family member.

"Are you going to help me or what, Ted?! Huh?! Or are you going to be a fucking pussy?" Asked David with a severe tone.

"Hell no, David! You're fucking fucked up you kno…" David simply raised his handgun and shot him through the head in one quick motion. Ted fell limp to the ground.

I flinched in shock. Although I couldn't see Ada behind me, I knew that she must've been as tense as I was throughout their argument.

"Fucking goodie-two-shoes!" He muttered to himself. "Why didn't you just listen! Goddammit! Now what am I going to tell Benson?"

He seemed to be mentally unstable. He began to mutter inaudibly to himself.

After a few seconds, he quickly turned toward the two of us and pointed his handgun at me. He was about my height, maybe a few inches shorter. He was skinny and unmuscular. I knew that I could overpower him. I just had to be smart about it.

"Get on your fucking knees!" He shouted at me. "This is all your fucking fault, boy!"

I reluctantly did so. He had lost it. I could see it in his wild eyes. Meanwhile, I glanced at the handgun on Ted's dead body. He was lying about ten feet away with a pool of blood beside his head. Maybe I could retrieve it if I was quick. Maybe. My heart pounded harder than it ever had.

"You, girl!" He addressed Ada. "Put your hands up!"

As he approached us, he passed by me and extended his free hand to grab Ada. I was about to recklessly tackle him, but Ada did something that surprised me.

As he went to grab her, he holstered his handgun and in one swift motion, Ada grabbed his extended arm, pulled him toward her, and performed a hip throw that brought him quickly to the hard pavement. All this in a flash. She then restrained his arm that was on the side of the holster and placed her knee on his stomach. Meanwhile, she performed what looked to be a collar choke on him. After a few seconds, he went limp and Ada proceeded to grab his gun.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

"Let's go," She said to me with a shaking voice. She looked distraught.

"Yeah," I answered.

It was her look of shock that dismissed my assumption that she was some kind of special agent.

I quickly got on my feet and hurried to my car as did she. I hastily detached the charging cord from my car.

I restrained myself from verbalizing my awe to her because I felt that it would be immature considering the circumstances.

We quickly entered our cars and were soon back on the I-66 heading westward again.

Ada called after a few minutes and I promptly answered.

"Hey, Ada," I said, trying not to sound agitated.

"Hey," she said with a tinge of tension in her voice.

A long silence followed, and it soothed me.

In the silence, I reminded myself of the good, wise people that I've met in my life. It is easy to worry oneself with the idea that the world is mostly bad, especially after an interaction with terrible people, but I had met many good-spirited people before. I knew that depraved people like David were a product of certain, unfavorable conditions rather than inherently evil souls as a priest from the Texas Bubble might have preached. However, he had meant to harm Ada and I was still bothered by that. We needed to be more cautious to avoid such things.

"So…That was fucking crazy," she said after the long pause. Her voice was a little calmer then, although I could still hear a restlessness in it.

"Um, I would say that it was beyond crazy. What I saw you do to that man was…insane. I can't think of a better word to describe it," I replied.

I didn't really feel like being frivolous with my words because I was still in shock.

Another long silence followed.

"Are you there?" She asked.

We hadn't spoken in a few minutes.

"Yeah. I'm just staring at the sky," I said.

"Oh…So, I'm thinking that we shouldn't stop until we reach Front Royal. Let's hope that there aren't any crazies there."

"Yeah, I agree. It's in the safe zone, so it should be good. Anyways, you have that gun. I'm assuming that you know how to use it," I said with a calmer voice.

"What makes you think that?" She asked.

"Oh, I just thought that maybe you're a special agent after tossing that thug with ease," I said with a bit of levity.

"He was a toothpick, and an old man too. Anyone could do what I did to him," she said dismissively.

"Oh, yeah. I guess," I replied, unwilling to speak frivolously about the situation. "But still…"

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm just a little tense," I said. "What about you? You must be filled with adrenaline."

"I'm fine," she assured me.

Another silent pause.

"So…was that a judo throw?" I asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Oh, I did some judo during high school," I answered, not wanting to tell her that I had only been a blue belt, which came after a white belt in rank.

"Oh, really? What belt?" She sounded interested.

"Oh, um, it was a dark colored belt, you know, the blackish one," I said a little flippantly.

"Really?"

"Okay, I was just a blue belt," I admitted. She gave a laugh.

It seemed that humor was the antidote to a lingering tension. My agitation was certainly diminished by it.

"Maybe I can become your teacher," she lightheartedly suggested. "That way you can save me next time."

"Um, yeah right. I was really just waiting to execute my flying dragon combo, but you ruined it. Geez," I jokingly said.

She laughed loudly. I was delighted by it. When Nicole and I were still together, I would always find a way to get a laugh from her. Ada's laugh reminded me of Nicole's then.

—

In less than a quarter of an hour, we were at Front Royal. It was now close to ten o'clock. We were stopped at a lighted, makeshift checkpoint. It consisted of a human guard and her humanoid, robot counterpart, which was similarly armed with a DEW. As we drove through the town, I saw a few cars parked here and there. The town had been one of the earliest to modernize, which was partly because of the popularity of Shenandoah National Park. It was evidently a well-to-do place. To my relief, I saw a few vehicles with the insignia of the National Robot Guard, which had been disbanded a decade ago. I knew that the NRG had consisted mainly of humanoid robots.

After a few minutes of navigating, we arrived at the Cloud-Nine inn. It was beside a large, artificial lake, which was surrounded by a park as I could see by the dim moonlight. The parking lot before the inn had only three cars parked in it.

 _Why aren't there more people here?_ I wondered. _Isn't this a safe zone?_

I reasoned that a majority of the coastal populations had went further inland. It did make sense to do so. Why stop at the edge of the combat zone?

Ada and I parked beside each other. Then, we got our luggage from our trunks and walked to the entrance. The lobby was dimly lit and felt very welcoming. The receptionist was a robot, and it greeted us as we walked in. It had the voice of a kindly woman.

The sound of my luggage rolling on the smooth floor reminded me of bygone days of travelling with my parents as a child. I was struck by nostalgia then.

"Hello sir and madam, are you checking in?"

"Yes," I said.

"How many rooms?"

"One for each of us, please."

The bot then proceeded to make arrangements. To my relief, the rooms were discounted for displaced persons. Then, it gave each of us our keycards and told us what rooms we were given. Our rooms were right next to each other, rooms 321 and 322. A porter-bot proceeded to put our luggage on a dolly, and it followed behind us as we headed toward the elevators. As we slowly walked, Ada suddenly put her arms around my shoulder and leaned her head against it. I allowed myself to smile at the gesture. Her warmth revived me.

When we passed by the lobby, we saw a middle-aged couple sitting on the chairs. They were watching the news on a large TV. They briefly looked our way, then turned their attention back to the news, uninterested in our arrival. The headline read "Battle of the Eastern Seaboard." It was showing a recording of the faraway flashes of the still ongoing battle, although closer than what I had seen with my drone. It might've been from the point of view of a hovering drone like mine or a camera on a tall building. Meanwhile, a reporter's voice could be heard, although I paid no attention to it. Neither did Ada it seemed. Adjacent to the lobby was an empty lounge that looked cozy and secluded.

Soon, we were at our rooms. The porter-bot helped to bring our luggage into our rooms and then left us. I had briefly seen that the view was nice and the bed inviting. Afterward, Ada and I stood outside in silence.

"You wanna hang out at the lounge for a little while?" She offered after the pause.

She looked more tired than before. I wasn't surprised.

Of course, I said yes. I wasn't yet tired. Anyways, I thought that it would be hard to sleep after the events of the day. First, we met a Scarab. Then, we met those two men at the charging station. I didn't know what the name of the town was. Strangely, our interaction with the latter humans had been much more traumatic.

We needed to let our minds unwind, and what better way to do that than together? We had only been together for a day, but it felt longer than that. Such is the working of a catastrophe on relationships.

When we reached the lounge, we plopped down onto the comfy sofa side by side. A moment later, a bot offered us water and we accepted. I did feel thirsty after all. We accepted its offer to turn the lounge's TV on too, but at a lowered volume. It was set to a program on the history of the founding of Shenandoah National Park. Meanwhile, Ada leaned her head against my shoulder. When the cups of water arrived, I leaned forward to grab one, but I realized that Ada had fallen asleep on my shoulder. The low table was too far for me to reach without waking her. Thankfully, the bot noticed and handed me one of the cups of water, which I drank quickly. I then placed it on the side table, which held a lamp with a body in the shape of a tree. Its light was pleasantly dim. Soon, I too drifted into a deep sleep.

The last thought that came into my mind was a memory of a past evening when Nicole had gone to sleep while leaning her head on my shoulder as Ada had done.

—

* * *

 **A/N:** Whoever has made it this far, thank you! Reviews are encouraged.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A New Day**

* * *

 **A/N:** This is my tenth chapter! This is a milestone for me. Although the audience is small, I feel as if a story like this needs to be done for the HZD fanfic universe. Thank you to all who have read this far! Please. Relax your mind and immerse yourself in another world.

* * *

 **3/26/65: Dawn**

Have you felt it, too?

My grief.

The secret recipe for a Scarab. Do you know it?

How was I to know that my best friend was a key ingredient?

Which Scarab took her dark blue eyes? Which her red lips?

Which one has her blood? And her flesh?

Tell me, please.

I would like to see her again.

* * *

— **The past—**

10:34, early February 2065, I was in my apartment, watching a news report on my TV. It was raining outside.

Breaking News: _Chaos After NATO Forces Retreat from the Rhineland, Thousands of Forces Deployed to Region_

"…tens of thousands are dead in the Rhineland after the failure of a series of large-scale military counter-offensives that began last week, leaving the Belgian border open to the swarm's approach. Thousands of Belgian, French, and German citizens have begun to flee across the English Channel to the island of Britain in an exodus that overshadows the climate change refuge crisis of 2033. A major difference between the climate refuge crisis and the ongoing evacuations is that extensive preparations have been made beforehand by the British Government for the latter in the form of extensive accommodations for displaced persons, particularly in northern England, Wales, Scotland, and even Iceland. At the present moment, bomber formations are shown to be flying southeastward above Alsace and Luxembourg in a multinational campaign to counter the advances of the swarm, which have been sufficiently slowed by large-scale scorched earth strategies carried out to the east of the Elbe River in Germany and south of the Danube. The Russian Automated Forces have miraculously managed to defend their western and southern borders against the invading swarm with China acting as a mighty obstacle to the southeast. The Russian Far East on the other hand has managed to completely avoid the brunt of the invasion so far and this has freed up the entirety of the Eastern Military District in that region, the armies of which the President of Russia has devoted to assisting the defense of southern China, United Korea, and Japan. Per presidential directives last month, the 1st and 2nd Cybernetic Infantry Brigades of the 10th Mountain Division, the 2nd and 6th Quasi-Automated Marine Regiments of the 2nd QA-Marine Division, the 2nd and 3rd Mechanized Response Brigades of the 82nd Mechanized Division, the 2nd Cybernetic Infantry Brigade of the 102nd Airborne Division, and the 4th, 5th, and 7th Civilian Guard Divisions have been deployed to France, Belgium, and Britain as part of Operation Steadfast. It was because of the grand ambition of the preceding Operation Total Recall that the U.S. government had been able to reinstate and reorganize these previously disbanded U.S. military divisions within just two months to begin Operation Steadfast. The goal of this joint military operation according to the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Townsend, is to assist NATO forces and to defend the ongoing mass-evacuations in the region. Military and Civilian Guard Divisions are being rotated worldwide to participate in a so-called baptism by fire to harden our armies, especially the civilian recruits, to war as much as possible in preparation for homeland defense. To add to this movement of forces, the U.S. Fifth Fleet has been pulled from the Mediterranean to support joint naval forces in the North Sea, which are aiding the ongoing evacuations. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Aaron Herres, explained earlier today that the overarching goal of Operation Steadfast, beside that of defending Western Europe, is to safeguard American soil from a projected invasion by the Iceland-Greenland-Canada route and provide the much-needed time for the fruition of Zero Dawn…"

I had switched to another channel.

"…this morning, around 7 p.m. EST, hundreds of members of the religious cult Nanite Ascension have participated in a mass suicide by way of nanopharmaceutical induced euthanasia in the French city of Strasbourg. The National Gendarmerie has met fierce resistance by Nanite Ascension terrorists who are resisting military attempts to remove the bodies per a limited scorched earth policy, which had been enacted by the French government in preparation for the impending invasion. According to their reclusive leader, 'ascension' can be achieved by offering oneself to the swarm and having one's earthly body dissolved by…"

I had turned off the TV. I hadn't gone to work or school that day so that I could watch the news. The events in Europe had been the focus of all my attention as it was for almost everyone. Nicole and I hadn't called in about a week. I remembered that I had called her many times, but to no avail. I hadn't known why my calls hadn't been going through.

After the fifth day of not hearing her voice, I had made plans to book a flight directly to Belgium. To my frustration, flights from the U.S. to Europe and all of Eurasia for that matter had been suspended indefinitely. My Focus had informed me of that.

As a last resort, I had called my parents to tell them about it. They were aware of my deep affection for Nicole. It had been known for many years. It was for that reason that my parents had done their best to console me at that time. I had cried for a while in my room after my talk with them. They had insisted that I visit them, but I had said that I would be fine.

I remembered hoping that maybe Nicole had been evacuating to Britain. I had thought that maybe she couldn't answer her phone because she was in the middle of doing so.

I remembered our last conversation before that cut in communication. It was saved on my Focus.

–—–

"He looked kind of scared before he left," she had said to me.

I had just got off from my shift at the library.

Her dad had been sent to Ramstein Air Base in Germany a few days before. His previous experience as an officer in the U.S. Air Force had made him a useful asset in the European theater. In fact, both of our fathers had graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado some time before we were born.

"Did he tell you anything? Like when he's coming back?" I had asked. I felt sad for her. She had been close to her dad.

"No. But, I saw my mom sobbing in her room. My grandma was holding her," she had said with a somber voice. "Today, she took Anna and I to an ice cream parlor in Mons. I know that she's trying to be positive for my sister."

Her little sister, Anna, was only six years old.

"So, um…Are you guys coming back soon? My parents think that you guys should. It's not looking good over there right now."

I had kept myself from pleading. She had pleaded with her parents many times before already, but to no avail. His job there had been too promising to leave it behind. And even if he had wanted to leave, he couldn't. He had been needed there at the time because of his previous experience.

"My dad said that whenever he gets back, he'll reserve us a spot on a Space-A flight back to the U.S. We're just waiting for him now," she had replied.

Space-A travel had been a privilege offered to service members before the disbandment of human combat forces in the U.S. in 2055. It allowed for uniformed personnel and their family members to travel on military aircraft, particularly large transports, if space was available, hence Space-A for space available. After 2055, military aircraft no longer required seating for soldiers, thereby putting an end to this feature.

I remembered wondering if such a leisurely feature of the previously disbanded Air Force would still be in use then. After all, Space-A could only be used by those who were on leave and I imagined that even a day of leave would be a rarity for those U.S.R.C. personnel stationed in Europe in the dawn of an invasion. I had hoped that the rank of Nicole's father or his knowing the right people would guarantee his family a space on a transport aircraft destined for either Andrews or Langley AFB.

As a child, my parents would rarely sign up for Space-A travel for family vacations; commercial airlines were the preferred method because they were faster and less stressful. Military aircraft hadn't been made for comfy travel after all. The allure of Space-A travel before 2055 had been the opportunity to ride on a large, military plane, but the novelty of it would wear out quickly for most.

"I hope he gets back soon," I had said. "I wanna hang out with you again."

I had honestly, but selfishly wanted her to just leave her father behind. I had been a little angry that he hadn't told them to leave without him for their safety. However, I hadn't known too much about the situation to justify being upset.

"Yeah, me too. Then, I'll get to see your apartment. I still can't believe you have your own place already," she had said.

It had been a little less than a year since she had left. We had visited each other once during our separation. It had been about half a year ago in July, although it had only been for a few days.

"It's small, but peaceful. The nature is why I like it here, though," I had replied.

A small silence had followed.

"I bet you bring your girlfriend into your room now," she had suddenly said.

It had been a guilty pleasure of mine to hear her feigned jealousy. I knew that there had been a tinge of genuineness behind it. We had both felt the same possessiveness for each other, although our worries were unfounded. We had been close for nearly our whole lives. A short period of separation actually had an effect contrary to our jealous suspicions; it had intensified our feelings for each other.

"I don't even have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, right," she said jokingly.

"There's no one else as awesome as you, anyway."

"Good. You're my good boy."

Her usual way of calling me a good boy would always fill me with a strangely pleasant feeling. I had never admitted it to her of course.

"Actually, my girlfriend doesn't come to my apartment, I go to hers," I had said, tongue-in-cheek.

She had kept silent.

"I'm just kidding," I had said to her with a little laugh. "You're my girlfriend."

"You didn't forget," she had answered with what I had thought to be a feigned sternness.

"Of course not."

Another pause had followed.

"Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"What if…what if we…um, never mind," she had said. She had sounded worried.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Nicole, tell me. Please?"

"…What if we never see each other again? I've just…been thinking about that lately. I don't know."

Her words had weighed on my heart like an anchor.

"Why would you think that? You're coming back when your dad's finishes whatever he's doing, remember?"

She had given a long sigh.

"Yeah, I don't know…I just…I'm just a little worried. Forget about it."

I had kept silent.

"We should go to Shenandoah National Park together when I get back," she had said with a change of tone.

"Yeah. We'll do that. Promise?"

* * *

— **Present—**

It was early dawn when I had awakened. The dimness of the morning twilight seeped through the shutters of the lounge's windows.

Ada was still sleeping; her head was lying on my left shoulder. The feeling of waking up to that is what hope is made of. Her dark, puffy hair cushioned her head and if it was Nicole, I would've kissed the top of it. I kept myself from dwelling on how much like Nicole she looked from this position.

I remembered how much I missed kissing my best friend's forehead or the top of her head whenever she would snuggle against me in the past.

The memory didn't sadden me because the sensation of having Ada lying against me had rejuvenated me.

Knowing that I couldn't move until she woke up, I reflected on things. I looked at a saikei, a miniaturized landscape of bonsai trees, on a dark wooden end table against the left wall. It stood between two of the three windows. The bonsais in the saikei were conifers, as I believed, and were planted on a base of what looked like moss strewn with small rocks. The saikei was held by a wide oxblood ceramic tray. It was remarkably beautiful. I had a bonsai in my apartment, but it wasn't as lovely as the bonsais in that saikei.

I focused on that saikei for a while, entranced by its muted shades of green and brown. A secluded ceramic figurine of a robed monk was sitting on one of the small rocks, contemplating. He was all alone amid the bonsais, which were like a forest to him.

Japanese culture, particularly the spiritual aspect of it, had taken a strong hold in northeast and northwest America during the Claw-Back era. The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which is loosely defined as the beauty of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness, had grafted itself onto American culture during the age of automation. The rise in automation and the worsening of pollution a few decades ago had been followed by a pervasive sense of detachment from nature and our own humanity. It was the unsettling juxtaposition of the exactness of automated processes with the simplicity of nature, such as in a flowing stream or a rustling tree, that had become shockingly apparent during that period.

The turn to nature in the late 2040s and early '50s had given rise to Neo-romanticism, a movement which emphasized the importance of the transience and so-called imperfection of nature in experiences of joy and well-being.

As I gazed at the saikei, I felt Ada stir slightly. I had been sitting for about twenty minutes after awakening. A few seconds later, she slowly lifted her head. Having been so calmed and immersed while reflecting on things, on my life and my immediate surroundings, I paid no mind to her waking. She stretched out her arms and groaned. She then looked at me.

"So, was yesterday a dream?" She asked.

I was struck by her words. Yesterday did seem a bit surreal in retrospect.

"I wish," I said.

We both stared at the space before us for a while in silence. We were still in the same clothes that we had been wearing yesterday.

I wondered what the new day would hold. I was no longer a library assistant or a student.

 _What am I going to do?_

I thought that maybe there was some worthy volunteer opportunity here at Front Royal. If not, then I would just focus on my studies; biology interested me greatly, but I had much to learn.

As I considered what to do, Ada rose from the chair.

"I'm going to shower," she told me. "Wait for me here?"

"Yeah," I replied.

She smiled lightly at my answer to my secret delight.

"You know, I'll probably shower too after I talk to the front desk, so I'll probably be in my room," I said.

I thought that a soothing, hot shower would be a good way to start the day.

"Okay. Let's meet back her, though," she replied.

"Alright."

She then walked toward the elevators and I walked the opposite way to the front desk.

"Good morning, sir. How may I help you?" The clerk bot greeted.

"Hello. Please list the volunteer opportunities being offered here in Front Royal," I requested.

"There are seventy-four volunteer opportunities in or near Front Royal pertaining to the following organizations:

\- Virginia National Robot Guard

\- American Red Cross

\- Wildlife Rescue Society

\- Shenandoah National Park—"

"Details on Shenandoah National Park volunteer opportunities," I requested.

Volunteering at the park seemed interesting.

"Shenandoah National Park volunteer opportunities include the following:

\- Habitat preservation and

\- Trail conservation

Is there anything else that I may help you with?"

I decided that I would visit Shenandoah National Park to learn more about the volunteer opportunities there and maybe join one of them.

"Yes. Continue listing volunteer opportunities in Front Royal after Shenandoah National Park."

"Volunteer opportunities after Shenandoah National Park:

\- Samuels Public Library—"

"Details on Samuels Public Library volunteer opportunities," I said quickly after hearing that option.

My time as a library assistant had drawn me to the quietness of libraries and so, I was more than willing to wait out the war by assisting in the upkeep of the local library. Doing so would also provide a good atmosphere for studying.

"Samuels Public Library volunteer opportunities include the following:

\- General library assistance.

Is there anything else that—"

"No, thank you," I interrupted. I was satisfied with my choices.

"Have a wonderful day," bid the clerk bot.

I then headed to the elevators to go to my room. Once I made it to my room, I entered, prepared a fresh set of clothes on my bed, and then, went to shower.

As I stood under the calming stream of hot water, I got lost in deep thought as a shower usually induces. For a while, I thought over the events of yesterday, particularly the dead body in the antique store, my meeting with Ada, the unexpected Scarab, and the two men at the convenience store. After sifting through those memories, I began to ponder the day ahead.

 _I'll go to the library today and offer myself as a volunteer,_ I thought. _The librarian, whoever he or she is, will be happy to have my library work experience at hand._

I had been working as a library assistant for a little over a year before the world war.

 _I should also check out Shenandoah National Park. I've always wanted to spend a lot of time in nature and now is my chance to do so maybe._

I thought things through for a little while. I then came up with a plan after thorough consideration.

 _First, I'll head to the library today for sure, then I'll head to the park, if not today then tomorrow._

Of course, I wondered about Ada and her plans. I wanted to get to know her more, but at the same time, I didn't want to be bothersome. I intended to tell her of my plans once I returned to the lounge.

To my dismay, I felt an ever so slight drop of arousal at the thought of Ada as I stood in the shower. I thought that I had been thinking of Nicole; the lines were really blurred because of their resemblance. The memory of the sensation of her arm around my shoulder last night as we had walked to our rooms had entered my mind. The memory of her scent, so like Nicole's, as she had slept on my shoulder seized my passions for a moment. I tried to purge the feeling from my body. I closed my eyes and leaned against the shower wall. Was I being tortured by fate? To be forever reminded of my loss whenever I looked at Ada's face; was that a blessing or a curse? To know that although Ada looks like Nicole, her spirit was devoid of that lifelong intimacy that me and Nicole had shared since childhood.

After a while, I got out of the shower and put on fresh clothes, which I had packed in my luggage. I grabbed a water bottle from the box that I had brought from my apartment. Then, after sitting on the edge of the bed for some time in silence, I finally left my room and headed for the lounge.

While I was waiting in the elevator, I looked at a digital poster on the wall. It cycled between various ads. At the moment, it was advertising the various trails and lookouts at Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to it, the park held over 500 miles of trails and various lookout points. The following information interested me greatly:

"The native black bear of Shenandoah National Park is no longer extant but don't let that grisly (yes, that was a pun on grizzly) fact lower your spirits. Visit the park and see one of many true-to-life robot black bears roaming throughout the park. These automated black bear look-alikes are the product of the ingenuity of Miriam Technologies. They were designed to replicate some of the natural life processes of black bears to preserve the balance in the park's ecosystem following the decline of the species."

I had learned of the extinction of both the grizzly and black bears when I was younger. My elementary school science teacher had told my class of the news. At the time, I hadn't really cared all that much. In retrospect, I felt as if the extinction of these species of bears and other animals for that matter had been an ill omen of things to come. It probably presaged the present condition that humanity found itself in, that being the brink of our extinction. I wonder if the last grizzly bears had felt the dread and despair that all of humanity was feeling then. Had we not been like the swarm unto them and all the other species that had gone extinct in the past few decades because of our negligence?

As I contemplated in this way, the elevator door opened. I then made my way to the lounge. On arrival, I saw that Ada was wearing her Focus and speaking to someone on it with an animated voice. She paced back and forth as she did so. I decided to sit in the adjacent lobby to give her some privacy. However, it was quiet at that time in the early morning, so I could still hear what she was saying.

"…where are you guys now? Are you far away from the coast?" She asked. Of course, I couldn't hear the voice on the other end.

"Good. That's good. So, where are you guys going now? You have to go far inland."

…

"Is anyone else going there too? Archie? Oh…Aunt Rosalind's going there too? That's great. Ellie will have someone to play with."

…

"Of course, I'm with a friend, don't worry…Yes, I know mom…Okay. How's Ellie? Can I talk to her?"

…

"Ellie! How are you doing?! Are you feeling okay?!"

…

"Yes, I'm okay. I love you, Ellie. Don't ever forget that. Stay close to mom and listen to her, can you do that for me?!"

…

"Okay," she said with a heartwarming laugh. "I will. You have to do the same too, promise? I love you so much, Ellie."

…

"Yes, mom. Be safe. Grandma's house should be safe place to wait out the war…Yes, I will, mom…I love you too. Okay, mom, I love you. Bye, mom."

With her goodbye, she ended the call. I saw her come around the corner from the lounge. A radiant smile showed on her face.

She looked at me with what seemed to be an expression of relief.

"My mom and sister are okay!" She said to me, overjoyed.

I smiled too because pure joy or relief is always contagious. She hugged me suddenly in her elation. I hugged her back in the same heartfelt way that I would hug Nicole in the past.

As we hugged, I remembered my own parents and my sister. The realization that we were then able to call other people in the safe zone struck me. I needed to call them. After a few seconds of holding the hug, I spoke.

"I need to call my mom, too. I forgot that we could do that now," I said.

"Yeah, you should," Ada replied. "Do you have your Focus?"

"Yeah, it's in my pocket," I said.

I fished my hand into my pants pocket to make sure that it was still there, and it was. I then walked outside for some privacy during my call. The wet parking lot was still mostly empty. The sky in the horizon was heavy with towering cumulus clouds and it looked like it had rained recently. The beautiful colors of sunrise were beginning to show in the east. The air was cool and refreshing. I heard the chirping of birds somewhere.

I put my Focus on my right ear and the holo-display appeared before me. To my surprise, I saw that I had five missed calls from my mom. I felt bad for not having called last night right after arriving in the safe zone, but I had forgotten about them for the latter half of yesterday.

I called my mom and waited for her to answer while the warbling ringtone sounded in my ear. A few seconds passed with no answer. Then, the call went to voicemail. I called again and a third time, but I received no answer. I felt dispirited. I wondered if they were okay. I assumed that it was just a temporary disruption in signal or something like that. I hoped that my sister was doing well during these times.

I stood outside the entrance for a while more, looking at the towering cumulus clouds to the southwest. The grandness of those clouds always impressed me. I reflected on the quietness of the town from where I stood. Then, I decided to head back in.

Once I entered, I saw Ada at the front desk talking to the clerk bot. She saw me walk in.

"So, are your parents okay?" She asked, interested.

"Oh, yeah they're fine, they're still on their way to Colorado," I said.

I didn't want to garner sympathy for not having received an answer from them. Really, I wasn't too dismayed about it; I knew that they were safe.

She studied my face for a moment or two. I kept an unaffected expression, or so I believed. I was going to change the subject, but her gaze impelled me to tell her the truth.

"Actually, I didn't get an answer. I'll try again later today," I said with a cool tone.

I felt a tinge of heaviness grow in my chest. My concern for my parents and my sister was starting to surface. I had never been one to milk sympathy out of Nicole when we were still together, let alone from someone that I had just recently met. However, she all of a sudden hugged me.

"They'll be okay," she assured me.

"Thank you. I know they'll be fine," I returned the assurance.

I smiled at her gesture. Her face was pressed against my shoulder as she hugged. She was a kind, lovely person. I resolved that I would make myself worthy of her kindness and reciprocate it whenever I could. I had done the same with Nicole.

After the hug, she spoke again.

"So, I was thinking of exploring the town today. What about you?" She asked me with her sweet voice.

"I was planning to visit the local library and sign up as a volunteer. I used to work as a library assistant before things changed," I said. "I might visit the park later, too. What about you?"

"I don't know yet. I see you're looking to stay here for a while," she said.

"Yeah, I might. I don't want to be too far from home after the war ends," I explained. "So, are you going with your parents?"

"I'm not sure. I'll probably just visit them after the war's over. I like being on my own, anyways."

"Me too," I said.

"Mind if I stick with you today?" She asked me.

Of course, I said yes. I was more than happy to hang out with her. We had met recently, but it felt like we had known each other for a while. Dire circumstances have a way of forging an increased reliance and closeness to others, especially those who have an amiable and trustworthy character. I prided myself in always trying to be considerate; it was a habit that I picked up during my time with my best friend.

"I'm gonna eat something first," she said. "The receptionist told me that they serve breakfast here."

"Yeah, I'm kinda hungry, too," I said. If I was planning to spend time at Shenandoah National Park, I would need to eat well beforehand.

With that, we told one of the bots of our desire to eat and it directed us to the dining area.

–—–

After we had finished eating, we headed out to walk to the local library. It wasn't too far from the inn, and the town looked like a nice place to walk around. The town was pleasantly but strangely quiet and empty as we walked. Once we had arrived at the library, I discovered that an old librarian was the only one there beside a maintenance bot. He had a kindly look, and he welcomed both of us warmly when we entered.

"Good morning. I'm surprised to see someone here," he said to us with a gentle voice.

"Good morning, sir. I was told of a volunteer opportunity here by the receptionist at the nearby inn. I'm interested in helping around here if you're okay with it. I have experience as a library assistant at Gloucester if that helps," I replied.

"Yes. Yes, of course. I'm planning on leaving for Colorado tomorrow. You came right in time," he said with a lively voice. "My robot assistant can keep the place nice and clean, but I need someone to look after him and help him with other things."

"Okay, I can do that," I informed him. I was excited by the prospect of having the library to myself indefinitely.

"When will you be willing to start?" He asked.

I remembered that Ada wanted to explore the town today and I wanted to visit Shenandoah National Park later, so I took those things into consideration.

"Um, I'll come in tomorrow morning?"

"Yes. Yes. I leave in the afternoon. Thank you, young man. What is your name by the way?" He asked me with an animated demeanor.

"My name's Michael." I shook his hand.

"And is this lovely young lady your girlfriend?" He asked kindly with that innocuous cheekiness of a grandpa.

"Oh, no. Were just friends," I said, a little abashed at the insinuation.

"He's actually my boyfriend. He's just stubborn about it," joked Ada as she pushed me lightly. The old librarian smiled at us.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, sir," I said to him. He bid us goodbye and we exited.

The large patches of clouds were shades of a soft peach and red then. The trees were dancing lightly in the cool wind. It was a beautiful, wonderful morning.

We decided after we had exited the library that we would visit Shenandoah National Park and so, we used our Focuses to fetch our cars. If the fetch feature allowed for our cars to drive across a park to reach us, we would've used it yesterday when we had our close call with the Scarab at Old Town. In retrospect, we should've at least had our cars drive the small distance onto the road immediately adjacent to the waterfront park, but we had been so panicked that we hadn't thought to do so.

Before I could direct my car to drive to meet us at the library, Ada suggested that we just use her car. I agreed to do so.

After a few minutes, her car drove up and we entered it, I on the passenger's side. She informed her car's AI of our destination. Then, we were on our way to the park. I was looking forward to our time there.

—

* * *

Leave a review if you hate Ted Faro and like my story.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: New Friends at Shenandoah**

* * *

 **3/26/65: Morning**

The car's display read 7:16. The sky was gaining in brightness. The patches of low-lying cumulus clouds were slowly migrating westward. We were still within the bounds of Front Royal on our drive to Shenandoah. The town was as empty as when we had arrived the night before. There were a few cars to be seen here and there and a couple of National Robot Guard vehicles too.

–—–

Are strong friendships forged in fire? I mean fire as in the shared experience of the effects of a world war. My relationship with Ada would eventually be testimony to that. We were both entirely aware that our world was facing a scourge unlike anything it had ever faced before and was on the brink of utter devastation. That perception would influence our growing bond.

On the other hand, friendships forged in fire aren't the only path to emotional intimacy. There are other circumstances that lead to that beside a mutual experience of danger. For example, Nicole and I had become more than close because we had forged our friendship early in our childhood. From a feeble sapling, our friendship had grown into a sturdy redwood. We had never lived through a world war or anything so dire as that, but our hearts had thoroughly fused over many years together. We had grown inseparable. Even after she had left for Belgium, our hearts had still been connected as if by rubber bands.

–—–

The morning was fresh and agreeable, but it hadn't made me forget that the inhuman scourge was then on America's shores. I knew that my apartment was likely in the midst of the fighting.

Despite that, I was assured by my remembrance of the incredible buildup of U.S.R.C. forces to the east. They were all standing firmly between us and the shores. It would be foolish to think that the swarm could survive against that sea of armies, glued together by pure human resolve.

Yes, I understood that the swarm had succeeded in conquering most of Eurasia as far as I knew, but the U.S.R.C. was fortunate to have had more time to prepare and harden themselves than the armies in the eastern hemisphere. Add to that the government's promise of an eventual antidote to the plague in that ever so secretive Zero Dawn project.

With all that taken into consideration, I felt safe. And who wouldn't? We would just have to wait until the war ended and busy ourselves in the meantime with whatever we thought appropriate. I would study, visit Shenandoah often as I had been meaning to do for a long time, and spend my time at the local library at Front Royal. Spending time with Ada was also on that list. Taking long, quiet walks without having to worry about work or school was on there as well. To be honest, I was willing to take things one day at a time. It felt very freeing to be released from the routine of my normal, pre-evacuation life.

"I might move closer to the park if I like it there. What about you?" Asked Ada. She had her arm hanging out her window.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same. I might stay in one of the cabins there," I said.

I then opened my window and stuck my arm out too.

"Well, let's hope that these cabins aren't expensive," she said.

"Well, if they are, I'll probably just bring a tent," I replied, entirely serious.

I looked out the window, daydreaming about camping in the park alone.

"A tent?" She asked, seemingly amused.

"Um, yeah, maybe. I mean, I've always wanted to try living in nature…you know, like Wordsworth and Thoreau."

I loved the idea of living in nature for once, especially after having lived in urban areas my whole life.

"Yeah?" She laughed lightly. "Wordsworth didn't live in nature, though. Only Thoreau did."

"Well, Wordsworth did spend a lot of time in nature," I replied. "So, in a way, he did 'live' in nature."

"I minored in English, so I'm right," she jokingly said with a smile.

I was surprised by that fact because I had also been minoring in English while majoring in cell biology.

"Really? I'm minoring in English too," I said.

"You're lying. Are you really?"

"Well, before the war, yeah."

"Are you being smart with me?" She asked with a feigned sternness. I gave a light smile.

"Um, no, Missus Ada," I jokingly replied. She smiled too.

"Still, Wordsworth never lived in nature like Thoreau," she said.

"Alright, whatever you say," I retorted lightheartedly.

I shifted my gaze to the trees that were passing by as the car drove us. To my surprise, I saw a family on their yard. Two kids were running around with two golden retrievers and their parents were sitting cross-legged nearby on the grass. I waved to them and they waved back. It lifted my heart to see a glimpse of normality amid those times. Such things would become rarer as the weeks and months progressed. A moment after seeing that family, I spotted two VTOLs airlifting containers. They both flew eastward.

"You know what? That doesn't sound too bad, living in nature. But I'd be a little wary of the bears there."

"The black bears? Oh, they're just robots, you know. I don't think they've been programmed to harm humans," I explained, feeling a little smart.

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?" She asked, her left arm waving in the blowing wind.

"Well…I read it in a very sophisticated academic textbook on…bearology," I joked. She chuckled.

"Bearology?" She asked, looking as if she had heard me incorrectly.

"You haven't heard of bearology? Wow." I shook my head, feigning disdain. She chuckled again.

I saw a large, fixed-wing military transport flying eastward in the distant sky.

"I read about it on Miriam Tec's website," I explained. "They make peaceful robots, unlike Faro."

"Miri-Tec? That makes sense…my older sister used to work for them," she said, her last sentence drifting off.

"Oh, cool. My goal is to work there one day…why doesn't your sister work there anymore?" I eagerly asked.

A brief silence followed. Ada seemed to not have heard me and I was about to forget about it.

"She was transferred to a branch in London last year…" She somberly said.

The United Kingdom. It was well known what had happened there not too long ago. The country had been utterly ravaged as far as I knew.

"I'm…sorry," I said. It seemed that everyone had lost someone during the ongoing war.

Ada gave no reply. I looked back out again at the trees and houses that we passed by. Soon, I was drawn into a meditative state of mind. The drive was agreeably quiet and peaceful. I realized that Ada was still a stranger to me for the most part, but I didn't mind. I wasn't all that desperate for a friend. The loss of my best friend was still fresh in my mind and I still believed that no one could replace her. I wouldn't have anyone replace her. I still had a lingering preference for solitude, although I did enjoy Ada's company. A worthy companion in such days is priceless. I felt that being a worthy companion to Ada would be like making it up to Nicole for not having been there for her when she had needed me the most. It would help in my atonement that Ada had a remarkable resemblance to her. If she wanted to shoot me, I would let her do so. That was the level of remorse that I felt for having let my best friend slip away.

 _I could've gone across the ocean alone on a boat. It likely would've died in the act, but at least I would've died trying something._ Such had been the nature of my thoughts in the past few weeks.

I remembered having briefly felt a strong urge to join the Civilian Guard in my grief, but I had been overwhelmed by the realization that nothing at all would bring her back, not even an act of heroism. I had felt suicide was my only choice, but I knew that doing so would negatively affect my sister. Despite that, the urge had been strong initially.

"I still can't believe it," she suddenly said amid the silence. She was resting her head against her left hand. Her elbow was propped on the window sill. "The world's ending…"

I had been lost in my train of thought and was a bit startled by her voice. I looked over to her. She was still looking out her window. She might've been talking mainly to herself. I felt that saying something would be unfitting, so I kept silent.

"My mom used to always say, 'treat every spring like it's your last.' Well, here's our last one."

I was affected by her words. Maybe it was our last spring. I had hope, though. There was Zero Dawn to rest my hope on.

"Remember that project that the president spoke about a few months ago? We just have to wait for it to unravel," I meekly assured. "There'll be many more springs to come."

"That's Zero Dawn, right? I thought the guys behind that had hitched a ride on the Odyssey?"

I chuckled.

"Isn't that spaceship still under construction," I asked.

I remembered having seen the abandoned spaceship with my telescope a few times when I was younger. I was twelve when the cancellation of the Odyssey project had been announced on the news. The think tank Far Zenith had revealed their revival of the project in 2061 a week before my birthday.

"Yeah," she said. "They're nearly done with it I think."

"Finally."

A brief silence followed.

"So, what do you think this Zero Dawn thing is anyways?" She asked, looking out her window.

"Um…I don't know to be honest. One of my teachers said that it might be deactivation codes for the swarm. That kinda makes sense to me," I said.

I saw a few more military aircraft flying in the distance.

"I heard that too, but shouldn't the owners have the codes at hand? It's strange that they're has to be a huge project just to retrieve them."

"I know, right?" I said, intrigued by the subject.

"Well, it's probably more complicated than it seems," she said.

"Yeah."

"I hope Zero Dawn does its thing sooner rather than later," she replied, her voice trailing off.

"Me too," I said as I watched the distant trees across the empty field.

–—–

The car's display read 8:07 when we arrived at the Thornton Gap Entrance Station, the entrance to the park. The booths were manned by bots, one of which scanned the car. A sign on the glass stated that nanoproducts and unmanned drones were prohibited.

After the bot let us through, we reached the beginning of the scenic Skyland Drive, which was the main road running through the park. I had been on that same road six years ago when I was still a freshman in high school. Nicole's parents and mine had planned a week-long trip to the park as a celebration for my dad having landed a new job at D.C. Nicole and I had spent our time hiking through the trails on our own without the company of our parents.

"Wanna check out Skyland Resort. We'll see if the rooms are still being rented out," Ada suggested.

"Alright," I said. "I wonder if anyone's there."

"Let's hope there're no crazies."

Ada informed her car's AI of its new destination. As we drove along the scenic road, we saw the wide Virginian landscape to the west. It was a little foggy, but the obscurity enhanced the wonder of the scene for me. About five minutes into our drive along Skyland Drive, we spotted a Miri-Tec black bear on the right side of the road. It was as if it were waiting for us to pass so it could cross the road. Ada had stopped the car about ten feet away from it and we both watched in awe. It looked so real. The bears hadn't yet been released by Miri-Tec when I had last visited.

"That's a robot?" Ada wondered.

"Miri-Tec's the best at what they do," I said, admiring the creature.

It slowly approached the front of the car. I opened my door and got out, knowing that it was harmless.

"What are you doing?" Said Ada with a loud whisper.

I walked to the bear as it looked at me. It was a little more than half my height. Even its eyes looked real. It was docile, unlike how I imagined a real bear would act toward an approaching human.

"See. They're harmless. The only danger is the jailtime that you'll get if you damage them," I said as I petted the fur on its massive shoulders. "She's amazing."

"Geez. Get a room," Ada quipped as she got out.

She walked up to it on the other side and put her hands on the bear's fur. We were both petting it then. The bear merely eyed us nonchalantly.

"Wow," she whispered. "Wow."

We were both so immersed in hanging out with the remarkable creature that we were a bit disappointed when it suddenly walked away toward the forest. I watched it walk away with pure amazement. When it had disappeared behind dense foliage, Ada and I went back into her car. We were too awestruck to speak. It was as if we had met a real, pre-extinction black bear.

—

After another ten minutes or so, we arrived at the parking lot of the Skyland Resort. To our surprise, there were five cars parked beside each other there. Ada looked at me as her car continued through the lot. I returned the look, realizing that she was a bit concerned. Really, I was too, especially after meeting those two men last night. I looked at the cars in thought. I was assured by the fact that we were in a public park rather than some charging station in a small town. Then, the car parked itself in a space nearest the registration building.

"Let's go in," she said, looking a little nervous. "I still have that gun from yesterday"—she reached into her glove compartment—"you know how to use it?"

"No, do you?"

"No."

"I mean, it's as simple as aiming and shooting, right?" I said. I had never held a gun before. The automation of law enforcement about a decade ago had made handheld weapons a rare sight, a relic of the past.

"Yeah, aim and shoot," she replied with an unsure tone. "Wanna hold it. Since you're only a blue belt."

"Um, you know, let's just leave it," I suggested. "I have a feeling that these people aren't bad."

"I don't know," she said. "You sure?"

"I mean, look at the cars. That one has a 'my daughter is an environmentalist' sticker. The next one is a family van with a sticker of a dog on the window."

"Environmentalists are really dangerous, though," she joked. I laughed.

"They're worse than the Ascensionists," I quipped. "We'll need a bigger gun than this puny thing." She laughed too.

After a minute or so, we decided that we would leave the pistol behind. I put it back in her glove compartment. Then, we exited her car and made our way to the registration building side by side. The wooden sign above the door read Skyland Office with painted letters. I assumed that the owners of the cars were either in the larger building to the right, in their rooms, or hiking on the nearby trails. The place was quiet, not a soul was around beside the two of us.

I cautiously opened the door of the registration office and slipped inside. Ada followed behind. To my surprise, I saw two people sitting on the rocking chairs in the lounge. A golden retriever sat beside them. Their backs were to us; they were looking out the large window overlooking the west, the landscape of which was partly obscured by foliage.

"Um"—I cleared my throat loudly—"Hello."

The man, woman, and dog turned their heads to look at us. They looked to be old and I guessed that they were Japanese. They had kindly expressions despite my sudden introduction. Even the dog looked unfazed by our appearance. It merely wagged its tail.

"Oh!" Exclaimed the lady with a smile. "Visitors!"

"Good morning. I'm sorry. We didn't mean to bother," I politely apologized.

"Oh, no, no," she assured as they both rose. "We're glad to see young faces. Where did you both come from?"

"We came from Alexandria. We arrived at Front Royal last night," Ada said. I nodded.

"Alexandria?" Said the Japanese lady with surprise. The man looked surprised too. "You were in the combat zone?"

"Yes. I don't think the fighting has reached there yet," I said.

"It hasn't, but the fighting is now less than ten miles from D.C.!" Said the man with a shaking voice. "It was on the news earlier. The swarm had crossed the Chesapeake Bay shortly after midnight."

Washington, D.C. and Alexandria were only twenty miles away from the bay. Ada and I looked at each other in shock.

"Let's not worry ourselves with that. Forgive me," said the old man with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Zero Dawn will fix everything soon. So, are you two looking to stay here until the war ends?"

"Yes, we were planning too," Ada replied. "Are there any rooms available still?"

"Oh, yes," answered the lady. "And better yet, they're free!"

"Free? How?" Ada asked, intrigued.

"A lady from our group, she used to work with robots. She said that when she arrived here, it was completely abandoned. She simply hacked the receptionist bot and Just like that, retrieved keys to every single room in the park," said the lady with a smile.

"Nice," I said. The old Japanese man gave an indulgent nod.

"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble?" asked Ada.

"My wife might be, but I'm not," said the old man with a chuckle. "Anyways, we're not defiling the place. We were displaced from our homes and have nowhere else to go. That's what I'll tell the police-bots if they arrest me."

Ada and I nodded in agreement.

"Also, the lady that hacked the bot, she found a way to bypass the security functions. It will be as if were never here once we leave," added the lady, still smiling kindly.

"Come, we'll get you two your room," said the lady, walking toward the front counter.

Ada looked at me. I returned the glance.

"You're staying, right?" She quietly asked.

"Yeah, I guess. You?"

"Yeah."

With that, we turned to follow the lady. She had been watching us expectantly as we spoke to each other. She had a kindhearted appearance to her as did the man, who I assumed to be her husband.

She went behind the counter where the receptionist bot was and proceeded to grab something out of view. The dog strolled by us as it followed the lady. The bot, whose nametag read Sam, was evidently online by the bluish light on the side of its head, but it did not mind the lady retrieving the keys. Apparently, the hack had worked. Then, she returned with one keycard, handing it to me.

"I'll show you two to your room," she said with a nod. I realized that by _room_ in the singular, she must've thought we were together and would be sharing a room.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry. We're not in a relationship…" I politely explained.

"Oh my. I'm sorry, I thought you were...wait a second, let me scan another one," she said, abashed.

Ada and I exchanged an inwardly laughing look as if to say to to each other "this is awkward." It was an innocent mistake on the old lady's part, but it amused us.

"Am I not good enough to be your girlfriend?" she jokingly said with a smile and a feigned look of indignation.

I chuckled at her friendly humor. To be honest, I had resolved that I would never have another girlfriend ever again. Not even Ada. At least, that's what I thought I would uphold. My feeling was kind of like a child's when his massive block tower, which he had worked so hard to make, is suddenly toppled and he looks upon the wreckage, reluctant to restart the whole process again. Of course, that feeling isn't only limited to child's mind.

"I'm like Thoreau and Emerson. They were never in a relationship," I joked, smiling back.

"Really? I think Emerson was married, though," she said.

"Was he?"

The old, Japanese man was listening to us with amusement.

"Yeah. I think his wife died two years after their marriage," she replied.

"Oh. I didn't know that," I replied.

I was familiar with a few of Emerson's essays, but I hadn't known that he had been married. That was a common theme in the nature writing; a sorrow or unease of some kind followed by a turn to seclusion and natural scenery. I remembered spending a lot of time walking through secluded areas after having lost contact with Nicole. I had once gone for a walk outside near midnight when it was snowing lightly. The whole world had been silent at that time. I had found my way to a forest. There, the still trees and bare branches had somehow soothed me. It had been experiences like those that gave solitude, nature, and the darkness of night an important place in my heart.

"Okay, want to check out your rooms now? They're right next to each other," the lady said with a beaming smile. "I'll introduce you to the rest if you don't mind."

"Okay," Ada said with a kind smile.

I furtively lingered my eyes on her expression for a second. She was so beautiful. I felt conflicted.

"Let's go," she said to me. I nodded with a smile.

At the moment, I thought that I would do anything for her. I would die for her if I had to. Of course, anyone could die for a friend. The challenge is to live for them. If she wanted to use me as a doormat, I would become one. That sudden resolve came unexpectedly. It might've been her beauty that made me think in that way. I couldn't save Nicole, but I could atone for that failure with my new friend.

"Yeah," I said.

The old couple went out the door that we had entered seconds ago, turned right, and walked us to our rooms, the building of which was right beside the registration office. The open-air walkway leading to our rooms connected the entrances of the five or so rooms lined together, making it a kind of shared balcony. Our rooms were on the second floor of that building, which had only two floors. We were told that our rooms were at the very end. Sitting in front of the first room along the walkway was a tall, middle-aged woman. A Focus was on her right ear. She saw us turn the corner and immediately rose from her seat. She was maybe half a foot taller than me. She was a bit lanky.

"Who are these kids?" She asked with nervous eyes. "And how did you two get past my sec-bots?"

She then seemed to be manipulating the invisible display of her Focus.

"Sophie. They're new friends of ours," explained the Japanese lady.

"Friends? You agreed to my rules, didn't you? What if they're here to ruin this arrangement that we have here?" She frantically asked. "I didn't hack the system to accommodate everyone that happens to saunter on in."

"Sophie, it's only them two. They had just arrived from D.C. They only need a place to stay," urged the old lady.

"There are plenty of towns around. Why can't they just go to those?" Sophie retorted sternly, but gently.

"Sophie! They're just kids! Look at them," said the lady. "Please!"

The tall woman eyed us for a while. First, she studied Ada, then shifted her attention to me. She studied is in that way for a minute or so. I remained as still as a post. After a while, she lowered her eyes, sighed, then spoke to us.

"Forgive me…I'm just…a little distrustful of strangers. Most people are idiots and want to ruin whatever's good in this world as you might know. I trust that you two aren't of that species," she said, looking at us both again.

Ada and I glanced at each other, bemused. I was amused by her use of the term _species_ to refer to crooks.

"Were not," Ada assured her. I gave a smile.

Sophie eyed us for a while longer. Ada and I remained where we stood, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"Well, if you two are going to join our little group, I will tell you the rules that we abide by. Listen closely," she said authoritatively. We nodded.

"First of all, do not bring any nanoproducts whatsoever into the park. I don't care if you have a medical condition that requires nanopharmaceuticals of whatever type, no nanoproducts. You will dispose of them properly."—we nodded at the same time—"Second, do not tell anyone else about this place, no one. Not your grandma, your mother, your girlfriend, your teddy bear, no one"—another nod—"Thirdly, and mark my words, there will be no confrontations here whatsoever. This is a place of tranquility. I was supposed to have this place all for myself, but I was generous enough to accept you freeloaders."—the old Japanese man laughed heartily—"Observe peacefulness and harmony at all times on the premises, understand?"—another nod—"Fourthly, do not injure the wildlife here, whether it be a robot, a flower, or a single darn blade of grass, no exceptions."—nod—"Fifthly, I do not want to hear your filthy moos and bellows of sexual intercourse. I'm tired of it. If you want to be loud. Get a cabin down there"—she pointed to the right, toward a line of trees—"Got it?"—we nodded awkwardly. I stifled a laugh—"If you violate any of these rules, I will have my sec-bots promptly kick you out, understand?"—a final nod—"That's all I have. Report to me when you're done dropping your luggage off in your rooms."

With that, she sat back on her chair and the old couple walked us to our rooms on the end of the walkway. Our rooms were on the end opposite the room that Sophie was sitting in front of.

"We apologize for her rudeness," said the old lady with a lowered voice. "She's kind once you get to know her."

"I'll make sure to thank her," I said. The lady smiled.

"She really means well. She had been deployed to Vietnam a few months ago. Her experience there had changed her."

"Vietnam?" I asked.

"Yes. She used to be a soldier in the U.S.R.C. She had been deployed to Hanoi to help defend against the swarm there. When she returned, she chose to leave her post one night and escaped here," explained the lady with a hushed tone.

Shortly, we arrived at our rooms. We stopped outside to continue our conversation.

"Why did she leave?" Ada asked.

"She saw terrible things there…she doesn't speak too much about it," she replied. "Just make sure to listen to her. I promise she'll be nice once she warms up to you."

We nodded politely. A brief silence followed. The golden retriever licked my hand and I gently petted him.

"How long have you guys been living here for?" I asked.

"Since early February," answered the man with a kindly nod. "We decided to move here after we learned of the fate of Europe. We used to live right next to the ocean, in Newport News. We are fortunate that no one comes here. It's our little home away from home."

I knew that most of the national parks throughout the U.S. had lost federal funding many years ago starting with Yellowstone. The National Park Service had dissolved before I had been born, and funding of the various national parks had been relegated to their respective state governments. Shenandoah National Park was one of the few to have been gradually forgotten in the past decade or so. By the 60's it had already lost its reputation as a popular destination. So, it was no surprise that the park was so empty. Add to that the fact that most had fled further inland with the news of the impending invasion.

"Will you all be staying her until the war ends?" I continued.

"Yes, of course. I'm sure you will too. It's nice and quiet here. We'll become good friends," the lady replied with a smile. "Are you two high school students ? You look young."

"Oh, no. I'm a college student," I said. I was used to people thinking that I was younger than twenty.

"I graduated from college last year," Ada said.

"Wow, you both look very young," said the old lady. "So, you two aren't together?"

"Omae!" said her husband. He smiled at us as if excusing his wife's question.

She answered in Japanese. She seemed to be scolding him. He yielded to her.

"I don't mean to be rude, I just thought you two would make a lovely couple," she said with a smile. Her husband was smiling kindly too.

I saw Ada blush. Her ruddy cheeks reminded me of Nicole then. Maybe I mention it too much, but it's true. I felt a surge in my heart. How could such beauty exist in the world twice in the same century? However, I was still resolved that I would never have another romantic partner. It was the right thing to do in honor of my best friend.

"Oh, no," I politely said. "I'm already in relationship."

I'd been suddenly inspired by the idea of declaring my lifelong devotion to my best friend, even though she was gone, never to return. The old lady studied me for a moment. She looked surprised.

"Oh. Where is she?" She asked. I panicked for a second or so. I didn't know how to respond. It was a lie after all.

"Oh, she's in…Colorado right now. I haven't heard from her in a while," I quickly replied.

"Can't you call her?" Asked the old man, intrigued.

"I tried to this morning, but I didn't get an answer," I lied.

I had tried to call my parents, not Nicole. There wasn't a signal in the afterlife, or so I thought.

"Well, you should be running over there right now. Don't you want to be with her in these times? Asked the man with a gentle voice.

"Yes, I do…but I don't know if she's actually there. I hadn't heard from her in a while," I explained, briefly regretting having lied.

I had just been so moved by the notion of proclaiming my undying commitment to my long-gone friend. It was probably foolish of me to have done so. I would live with the consequences. I really didn't think that there would be any consequences. It had been harmless.

"Oh, I see. So, once you hear from her, you will go with her?" The lady asked. "Now's not the time to be separated from loved ones!"

"Yes, of course," I replied.

Ada was studying me as I lied. Of course, she didn't know that I was lying. I wasn't one to resort to hysterics in a simple lie. Not that I lied often. I thought that we would have a good laugh about it later. Maybe we would sometime after I explained to her about her resemblance to my best friend. I didn't know if that time would ever come, if it would even be necessary to mention it.

"Okay, we'll leave you two to warm your rooms. Don't forget to talk to Sophie after you're done," she said with a smile. We both nodded. They turned to walk depart. "Oh, wait. We didn't even get your names!"

"I'm Michael," I said with a nod.

"I'm Ada," she said with a kind smile.

The two bowed to us slightly in the typical Japanese manner.

"I'm Ayame. My husband is Makoto."—he smiled and nodded—"We will be at the Skyland Office if you need us. Sophie will introduce you to the rest of our tiny group. Have fun!" She said. They then left in the way that we had come.

Ada and I stood in silence outside our rooms for a while, looking out over the wide valley that showed over the low trees. We could see the Massanutten Mountain ridge in the far distance. The sky was then grayer and heavier with clouds than before.

"So, are you going to stay with your girlfriend in Colorado?" She asked, looking at me.

I wondered for how long I should maintain that lie. I would eventually tell her that my girlfriend was really dead and had been so for a while.

"Um, no, probably not," I solemnly replied.

"Why not? She's your girlfriend," she gently asked.

"Yeah, but we…we have a strained relationship. I'll put it that way," I said. "We'll probably never see each other again."

"Really? Mind if I ask why?" She casually asked.

"Its…kinda weird. All I know is that we'll never see each other again," I said, looking at the grass

"Oh," she said, nodding in an understanding way. "So, are you two breaking up?"

"Yeah, I guess you can put it that way," I replied. In a way, death was like a break up after all.

Ada continued to study my expression for a while. I knew that I did well in my explanation. In a way, I hadn't lied. Then, a look of amusement suddenly grew on her face as she eyed me.

"Let me guess, you told her that you wanted to live in nature all day," she joked. I chuckled, managing to suppress any sadness over the truth behind my lie.

The reason why I had turned to nature and solitude was because I had lost my best friend. The quietness and stillness of nature offered the highest form of sympathy to a grieving spirit. If Nicole and I were still together, a habit of seeking solitude would have been foreign to me.

Ada and I were silent for a while. I felt reluctant to continue the silly lie, worrying that it might stir a dormant grief. I thought that it would be sacrilege to continue it, although I had started it with a good intention. I had wanted to pretend that Nicole and I were still together, even after her...death. It was hard for me to bear the fact that her name and the word _death_ or any of its euphemisms could be put side by side to represent a truth. I decided to divert the subject.

"So, what about you. Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, a bit worried that she would say yes.

That one word would deliver a heavy blow to my heart, despite the fact that I had resolved to never get myself into another romantic relationship. I didn't know it yet, but I wanted to have Ada all for myself. I wanted to be her only doormat; I didn't want her to step on anyone else beside me. Of course, that was only an exaggeration, or so I believed. I didn't want her to literally step on me. Well, I would let her step in me if it was necessary for her well-being. This had all stemmed from my desire to make up for my past neglect of Nicole through my relationship with Ada. One might think it strange or silly that I felt that way, but no one else had known my peculiar grief.

"A boyfriend? If my teddy bear counts as a boyfriend, then yeah," she said with a smile.

I smiled lightly too, but not because of her teddy bear joke. I felt a tinge of relief that she didn't have a boyfriend. Not that I would be sorely pained if she did; I would've just felt a little prick as if by a thorn if she had said that she was in a relationship.

"I'm pretty sure you can legalize that relationship in California," I joked. She laughed.

We looked over the valley over the treetops again. Suddenly, she nonchalantly rested her right arm on my left shoulder and leaned against me in that way. It was a friendly gesture.

"I like the view," she said, gazing over the landscape.

"Yeah, me too," I said with a low voice.

Our position suddenly brought a memory to my mind after a while. I remembered that Nicole had kissed me once after we had been looking over the same view from a different spot on a spring evening some years ago. My face might've showed my nostalgia based on her response.

"You alright?" She suddenly asked amid the silence, removing her arm from my shoulder and leaning against the railing that lined the walkway before our rooms.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine...I was just thinking about something," I wistfully said.

"Your girlfriend?" She jokingly asked. I forced a smile.

"Oh, no. I'm just...a little worried," I kindly replied. "So, what should we do now?"

"I guess we can just hang out here for a bit," she suggested, studying my face for a moment.

"Yeah," I said.

I leaned against the railing too. I didn't need to go in my room yet.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna like it here. That old couple is nice. And they have a cute dog!" Ada said.

I smiled at her show of happiness.

"I'm liking this place too. I like the scenery."

Suddenly, the sound of Sophie's voice reached us from the other end of the walkway.

"Are you two finished with your rooms? Join me if you are," instructed the tall woman. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the group. We can't have anyone not knowing each other here in our little hideaway."

"Okay," we both said at the same time.

We didn't have any baggage; we had left them at the Cloud-Nine inn. Therefore, we decided that we would go to Sophia for the group introduction. With my memory of the inn, I remembered my promise to the librarian at the local library there. I knew that I would have to tell him of my sudden change of plans. I hoped that he wouldn't be offended. Maybe we would be able to make some kind of arrangement.

As we approached Sophie, who had seated herself, we heard a news report coming from her radio, which rested on the small, round table beside her. We listened to the reporter for a while.

"There are reports that high-ranking officials and faculty of businesses and universities worldwide have been abducted by operatives, whose country of allegiance is yet unknown. These reports surfaced after a professor from a renowned Japanese university mysteriously vanished and was never heard from again despite having been expected to arrive at Xinjiang, China…"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: An Occurrence in Japan**

* * *

 **3/26/65: Morning**

"Japan? I've always wanted to go there," said Ada.

"Me too," I said. "I've always wanted to go to Kyoto."

"I want to walk along a river there in winter."

"Oh, yeah, with the cherry blossoms all around."

"You two want to visit Japan?" Sophie asked with a grave expression.

—

* * *

 **12/24/64, 22:13, Somewhere over the North Pacific Ocean**

A bespectacled, old Japanese man sat in a military VTOL. The interior was dimly lit. Beside his nervous appearance, his attire made him stick out from the others who sat quietly within the flying aircraft. There were seven others inside the transport with Mr. Norishige Onishi. They were all clad in full military gear and each had a patch of the U.S. flag on their left shoulder. When they had rushed him onto the aircraft, he had briefly read one of the tabs attached to the left shoulder of one of the men. It read QA-SEAL TEAM 1.

He wondered what that name signified and what the United States had to do with the whole thing. He didn't remember the last time that he had seen a human with a military-grade weapon. Nevertheless, he was glad that they had rescued him. Otherwise, he likely would've been dead a little over half an hour ago.

Mr. Onishi could see the black of the night sky through the single, circular window, which was opposite him. Norishige furtively studied each of his mysterious rescuers. There were five men, one woman, and one android, the latter being clad in the same gear as the others. Their faces wore a look of weariness. The difference between the android and its human counterparts, beside its robotic face, was a spherical object that rested upon its left shoulder. Norishige saw that it had an aperture with a lens embedded within it. All the while, he was too timid to ask the questions that were on his mind. Although his mother tongue was Japanese, he was fluent in English and Mandarin.

He studied one of the men, whose eyes were downcast. He had a dark beard and a cybernetic left hand, which resembled that of the android. There was no nametag on his uniform to be seen or on the others for that matter. As Norishige studied the appearances of the others, the man sitting to his right suddenly spoke. He was bearded, too, and had green eyes.

"It's almost Christmas," the man said to him. "Just two hours away."

Norishige quickly glanced at him, a bit startled. He gave a closed lip smile and nodded politely at him.

Then, everyone on board was looking at him. Norishige felt uncomfortable under the sudden attention. He kept his eyes downcast. He remembered the plans that he had for the day, which had been interrupted by the events of the latter half. A while after, the man with the cybernetic hand spoke.

"So, you're a Professor of Molecular Biology…and Genetics? Is that right?" Norishige lifted his gaze to the inquirer. It took him a second before he could answer. His mind had been drifting off.

"Yes…of Kyoto University," he answered with a polite nod. An ever so slight accent tinged his words. He nodded one more time, then looked downward again.

"That means Zero Dawn is some kind of biological superweapon then, right?" Said the same man to no one in particular.

Norishige looked up at him again, assuming that the question was for him. However, he had no idea what a Zero Dawn was. His interest sparked like the rest.

"How will genetics or bioengineering make a weapon to stop the swarm?" Asked the woman, puzzled.

Everyone was silent for a while. No one had an answer to her question. On the other, hand Norishige was genuinely curious about what the man with the cybernetic hand had said. Zero Dawn was what he had heard.

"The Aces use a nano-haze to feed, right? Maybe a biologist knows a thing or two on how to add some molecular weapon onto biomatter that can, um, hijack the nano-haze and sabotage the machines that it emanates from," said the green-eyed man to the right of Norishige.

He had spoken with an eager, serious tone.

"Yeah, they do use that nano-haze to feed off of biomatter. That can work," said the Asian SEAL beside the cybernetic man.

"You mean turn the nano-bots in the nano-haze feeding function into microscopic suicide bombers?" Inquired the woman.

Everyone but Norishige and the android chuckled at her words.

"Yeah, why not?" Said the green-eyed man.

With that, everyone was silent again. After a few minutes, Mr. Onishi gathered the courage to ask a question.

"If you don't mind me asking, um, where are we going?" He asked, looking meekly at each of his rescuers.

"Your country, Mr. Onishi…the cherry blossoms, the temples, Tokyo…they're all gone," said the cybernetic man with a somber tone. "Were bringing you to the United States, so that the same doesn't happen there."

Norishige processed his words for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"You know Zero Dawn?" Asked the same man.

"No, I've never heard of it," answered the professor.

"It's a superweapons project led by the U.S. You have been deemed a crucial asset to the completion of said superweapon. That is why we risked our lives to save you back there," he sternly said.

"A superweapon? Against the swarm? You must have mistaken me for someone else."

"No, you're the right man. Unless you're the first out of dozens that we'd made a mistake with," replied the cybernetic man matter-of-factly.

Silence reigned again after the conversation. Norishige drifted into an introspective state of mind. He was apparently going to America. He wondered if he would return to his home ever again, to Kyoto. He already missed it. He would've been home by now on a better day.

The last view that he had of his homeland was from atop Mount Fuji, which was where he had been rescued from. He would never forget that scene that he saw from the summit. It was etched into his memory.

— **Five hours earlier, 17:13, East of Nagoya—**

"Please, Onishi-san, enter the vehicle," said a young officer of the Japan Automated Defense Force.

They were on the eastern outskirts of Nagoya, in the city of Okazaki. Being wintertime, the sun had already set about half an hour ago. The air was a little cold. It was then the middle of twilight; night was only an hour away. The moon served as a dim source of light amid the partly cloudy sky.

"And why? Where will I be taken?" Asked Professor Onishi.

"You have been chosen for a special assignment. Now please, enter the vehicle. We have no time to waste," urged the officer.

"But I need to know. Where will I be taken?"

"If you want to save your country, then do as I say Onishi-san."

Norishige eyed the young officer for a moment. As he did so, the din of unified surprise emanated from the small crowd around. The shop owners, businessmen, and military personnel around had lifted their eyes to the dark blue sky. Norishige did the same after looking at everyone. Even during a war on the mainland, the people of Japan were calm and composed.

What he saw in the sky astonished him. Emerging from above the clouds was a vast formation of aircraft all flying southward in unison. Each plane was at such a high altitude that they appeared as tiny, black specks against the moonlit sky. Thin, barely discernible contrails trailed from behind the planes and there were so many of them that they nearly obscured the whole of the twilight sky.

With that, Norishige quickly entered the military vehicle. He continued looking at the vast formation as he sat in the passenger's side. The officer entered on the driver's side and informed the AI of their destination. Shizuhama Air Base was what he had said.

 _Shizuhama? That's an air force base, isn't it?_ Norishige thought.

He looked at the display on the dashboard. The map briefly showed that the destination was in the coastal city of Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

 _Why am I being taken there?_

Norishige looked back up to the sky where the vast bomber formation continued flying southward. As he did, another question surfaced.

"So, is there anything that you can tell me about this whole thing? Why me?"

The officer sat in silence for a moment, looking straight ahead.

"They didn't tell me much…only that you were deemed crucial to an international project of some sort. I don't know where or what. I only know that you will be picked up by a foreign detachment at the Shizuhama Air Base at 21:00," he said solemnly.

Norishige studied the young officer's face for a while, trying to find more information in his grave expression.

"Foreign detachment? It must be the Chinese, yes?" Professor Onishi inquired.

The officer gave no reply.

"Do you at least know what this project is?"

"I'm sorry, Onishi-san," replied the officer. "I don't know."

"I was supposed to go to Xinjiang tomorrow for an academic invitation. That's why I ask." He looked out the window again, but he didn't look at the formation in the sky.

A few sporadic messages could be heard on the vehicles radio. Norishige listened closely, but he hadn't a clue of what any of them were conveying.

"1-3, this is 1-6, seven KPs— _static—_ twenty Aces heading northeast on— _static—_ oku Bridge, deploy— _static—_ eckpoint 5-9-Tango-Delta, over."

"1-3, wilco, out— _static._ "

A brief silence.

"Bravo 2-4, this— _static—_ ravo 2-3, C-RAMs are offline, hold your fire, over— _static._ "

" _static—_ 2-3, this is 2-4, say again— _static—_ ver."

"2-4, this is 2-3, I say again, C-RAMs are offline, hold your fire, over."

"Roger, 2-4, out— _static._ "

Another space of silence.

" _static—_ this is 1-4, engagi— _static—_ Grid 5-3-Sierra-Papa-Uniform-6-7-6-6-3-8, six KPs and thirty Aces moving east— _static…_ "

" _static—_ 4, standby for CAS, over."

"Roger— _static…_ "

Suddenly, Norishige heard what sounded like Mandarin amid the loud static. Then, the radio went silent.

In the eerie quietness, Norishige began to contemplate things. He was still curious about his situation, but he also reflected on the weeks preceding that day. Not long ago, Taiwan had succumbed to the advances of the swarm. Then, the islands of Ishigaki, Miyakojima, Okinawa, and Amami had followed in rapid succession. A few days after Amami had been lost, the swarm made landfall on the shores of Kyushu. That had begun the invasion of the Japanese mainland. It had been his birthday when he had heard the news of the monumental invasion.

On that same Autumn evening, he had visited his old friend, a monk who had given up his life as a professor to live a life of seclusion. It had been a chilly evening. Norishige had put on simple clothing.

His friend had been sitting beside a still pond in a forest near Kyoto, reflecting quietly on things, when Norishige had visited. Some of the trees had red, orange, and yellow leaves and the rest were evergreens. A few leaves had fallen on the still surface of the pond. That was his usual dwelling space.

— **A few weeks ago—**

"Good evening, Ikeda-san," greeted Norishige.

"Onishi-san. How are you? You look troubled," said his friend, Ikeda. Norishige had smiled and made a polite dismissive gesture with his hand.

"I'm well. I'm well. I'm just a little weary." He had seated himself beside his friend. Ikeda had studied Norishige's face for a while in silence.

"I know you, Onishi…come, let's walk," he had gently said.

After a while of walking, Norishige spoke.

"Ikeda-san…"

His friend had looked at him. Norishige had been considering his words.

"Have you…have you heard the news as of late?" He had asked.

"News? Of course not," he had replied with a chuckle. Norishige had smiled, but it was forced.

"You are troubled by the news?" Asked Ikeda with a serious tone.

Norishige had kept silent for a moment, in thought.

"Ikeda…Japan…is in the middle of war. Kyushu was invaded this morning," he had gravely said.

"It is the robots?"

"Yes."

Ikeda had stopped suddenly and studied a small conifer sapling. They had been amid a secluded forest with no trails nearby. Norishige had wanted to mimic the calm of his friend, who pored over the sapling with a peaceful demeanor, but worry had caught hold of him. After some time, they had resumed their walking.

"Ikeda…I'm concerned that…that our world will come to an end. It seems that way as of late," said Norishige.

"Onishi…have you been meditating?"

"No. To be honest, I've been neglecting my practice lately," replied Norishige, a bit disappointed with himself.

"Onishi. Tell me, do the trees fear?" Asked Ikeda.

The professor had been a little confused by the question. However, he had always trusted the goodwill and wisdom of his old friend.

"No, I don't believe so," he had answered. A brief silence followed.

"Sometimes they shiver in the wind, but it isn't a fearful shiver."

Norishige listened.

"Do you shiver in the wind, too, Onishi? Is it a fearful shiver, or is it just your mind rustling in the wind?"

Norishige felt a tinge of calm at his words. He had felt freed at the remembrance that his thoughts were merely like foliage shaking in the wind. A feeling of calm began to replace his anxiety. However, another point of concern surfaced.

"What about the future of humanity? What about human joy and happiness? It will come to an end, right when we were on the verge of better times," said the professor with a renewed sense of worry.

"Onishi, don't neglect your meditation practice. Through it, you will see for yourself."

With that, they continued their walk in a pleasant silence.

— **Present, 17:27, En route to Shizuhama Air Base—**

With the memory of his friend, whom he had last visited a few days ago, he decided to meditate. His object of meditation would be the silence in the vehicle itself. He gazed at the road ahead, lit by the headlights.

As they drove away from Okazaki, they passed by a long convoy of JAGDF tanks. Norishige couldn't help but think that the tanks looked like crabs. The two railguns were spaced apart like a crab's claws and the turret body was similarly large in proportion.

"Where is the swarm now? Are they still being held back at Kyushu?" Asked the professor.

The officer kept silent for a moment before replying.

"Onishi-san, the Western Army of the JADGF…they've been nearly wiped out a few days ago."

Norishige eyed the officer with disbelief.

"And the Central Army?!" Inquired the professor.

"They are on the verge of defeat. The remaining armies are preparing defenses further north. That is why we must go, Onishi-san. We can't risk your death."

"Am I really that important?" Asked the professor. The whole thing still puzzled him.

"Frankly, you are."

A brief silence followed.

"What about the Russians, where are they? They promised to help us. Didn't they?"

"They are further north. They aren't going to risk mounting any major offensives. Defend and retreat is the prevalent strategy as you might know."

"So is Nagoya a part of the defensive line?"

"Yes. The southwestern outskirts of Nagoya are already seeing battle."

Nagoya was a massive metropolis. Still, Norishige couldn't believe that he was so near to the fighting. He hadn't known beforehand.

"And Kyoto? What of my home?"

"Onishi-san, Kyoto is no more," said the officer with a grave, yet firm tone.

"How! I was there but a week ago! That can't be," cried the professor.

The officer remained silent.

"Is everyone there dead?" He asked.

He received no answer, but the officer's expression was enough. Norishige wept quietly in his seat.

"Ikeda…" He uttered between each sob. "No…"

— **Two hours later, 19:36—**

They had arrived at Shizuhama Air Base about a quarter of an hour ago, but there had been a delay for some reason. It was then nighttime. The light of the moon gave sufficient illumination.

One of the men in the base, who was in military uniform, had informed the officer that the Japanese Navy had spotted something massive floating in Suruga Bay. The air base was situated on the western shores of that bay. Apparently, whatever it was that had been spotted in the bay represented a significant threat and so, our plans had to be reconsidered.

"So, will they arrive here or what?" Asked the officer.

"Give me a moment," replied the man. He then walked a little way off and talked into his integrated radio inaudibly.

As we waited in the vehicle for him to return, loud explosions and gunfire began to sound to the east. We all looked in that direction. Norishige was immediately filled with panic and dread. The shooting sounded like it was coming from nearby. Soon after, the man returned to us. A nervous look showed on his face.

"You need to board a bird. You're going to Mount Fuji," he said, raising his voice above the din of gunfire.

"Okay," replied the officer. "Let's go."

"Mount Fuji?" Asked the professor.

"Yes. We need to go to the summit. Come on! Let's go!" instructed the man.

Norishige quickly exited the car and followed the man. The young officer strode beside him.

"Where are the Russian armies? They should be pushing south," said the officer with an exasperated tone.

"They're setting up a defensive line between Nagano and Tokyo. They don't want to move further down," said the man.

"What scoundrels! They would let the whole southern half of our country be taken!" Cried the officer.

"They know what they're doing," assured the man.

"Yeah, I hope so!"

After a short walk, they reached a small helicopter. It had no rotor, but it resembled the helicopters of old. They quickly boarded it and seated themselves. As the rear door slowly closed, the sound of military jets sounded overhead. Norishige remembered when he had first heard the sounds of jets responding to the initial invasion forces. He had been at his university in the afternoon.

Soon, they were in the air. Even then, they could still hear the explosions and gunshots that had suddenly erupted near the air base.

"Where is the gunfire coming from?" Asked the professor with a nervous voice.

"A swarm had managed to reach Suruga Bay undetected. They've landed near Makinohara," said the man.

The city of Makinohara was less than ten miles southwest of Shizuhama Air Base. Chills ran through Norishige's spine.

"What of the navy?" The officer asked, concerned.

"I don't know," said the man.

"Are you with the ground force?"

"Yes. I was a colonel for the 8th Division of the Western Army," he said with downcast eyes.

The officer and I glanced at him. We knew that the whole of the Western Army had been massacred at Kyushu, at least that was what the officer had told me earlier. I eyed the colonel's face, searching for any sign of grief, but he was remarkably stoic. His eyes were fixed on some point on the metal floor of the hold.

"I'm sorry," said the officer. His eyes were then downcast too.

Silence followed afterward. Then, the colonel spoke again.

"They died honorable deaths," he said with a change of tone. "I should've died with them…but I was informed of a task that was important for humanity as a whole. I was told to assure that _you_ arrived at the base." The colonel looked at Norishige.

Norishige looked at him too, then lowered his eyes. He could feel the colonel's eyes still on him.

"Onishi-san, there is something that you have here," he said while tapping his temple. "That will assure the survival of humanity." A faint smile of hope grew on the colonel's face.

Norishige simply looked at the colonel, confused.

"You are a professor of genetics and bioengineering?" The colonel asked.

"Yes…of Kyoto University."

The colonel simply nodded his head with satisfaction.

"Sir, do you know who will be picking me up at Mount Fuji?" Asked the professor.

"I don't know. They could be PLA, Russian, American, United Korea. My guess is as good as yours," replied the colonel.

"Who was commanding you on your radio earlier then?"

"That was the lieutenant general of the Eastern Army, not the leader of the people extracting you," said the colonel.

"And these people, they're arriving at nine o'clock?"

"You're right, 2100. At least that's what I was told."

A brief silence followed. Then, another thought entered Norishige's mind.

"What will happen to this country when I leave?" Asked the professor with concern.

"We will continue to fight," said the colonel. "For the men I've lost, for my wife and children. For our home."

 _For Ikeda-san, too,_ thought Norishige.

Another silence followed. Only the muted sound of the aircraft's engine could be heard. They were far enough away from the air base then that the sound of gunfire was no longer audible.

About fifteen minutes later, the pilot shouted to us from his seat in the cockpit.

"ETA, ten minutes."

"Onishi-san, when we arrive at the summit, you will need to stick with me. Understand?" The officer asked.

"Yes, I understand," said the professor.

"Once we arrive, we will have forty-five minutes until you are extracted. Colonel, thank you for your help." The two shook hands.

After they're expression of thanks, a voice suddenly sounded on the officer's radio. The three listened intently to the voice.

"That is…Mandarin? No," said the colonel. He continued to listen closely.

"Mandarin?" Asked the officer, confused. "Do you have an auto-translator?"

"I have an aug," replied the colonel. He reached into a pocket on his vest.

"There's no need, I understand Mandarin" said the professor, who had a look of concentration on his face. "The voices…they are not from one person…it's like each word is a soundbite from different people."

The two military officials eyed the professor.

After a few seconds of listening closely, Norishige slowly translated the message in Japanese for his two companions.

"It's saying…please…lay…it's a little jumbled, hold on…okay, I got it now…please…lay…down…your…weapons. Please lay down your weapons?" The professor wondered if he had heard the message wrong, but it was clear then.

The officer and colonel had a look of pure confusion on their complexions.

"The Chinese? Do they want us to lay down our weapons on the brink of destruction?!" Cried the colonel.

"They're our ally. Their navy had helped us in the East China Sea. This must be some kind of glitch," replied the officer.

"It's strange," said the colonel.

After a few minutes of the message repeating itself, it suddenly ended. Then, the three men looked at each other, bewildered.

— **20:13, Mount Fuji—**

Soon, the aircraft arrived at the summit of Mount Fuji. It hovered steadily above the ground of the summit and they disembarked. The colonel gestured toward the pilot to leave without him. Then, the aircraft headed back in the direction that it had come from.

"You're staying?" Asked the colonel.

"Yes. I have…something to do here."

Immediately after disembarking, Norishige took in the wide expanse of landscape that was laid out before his eyes in the moonlight. He was facing southward. In the dim light, he could see low-lying clouds and dark hills rising above them. What took hold of his attention was the scene over the southwestern horizon. Across the whole of that darkened horizon was a show of bright flashes of light. Each flash lasted for a second and more would follow in rapid succession. It was a haunting sight. The officer and colonel were watching the flickering battle too. The aircraft that had dropped them off was heading in the direction of the fighting to Norishige's surprise. Directly to the southwest, in the direction of Shizuhama Air Base and Suruga Bay, were flashes of an equal intensity, but they were closer. From that height and distance, none of those metal giants could be seen, but Norishige scanned south and southwest for any sign of them anyway. Nothing. Amid the dreadful silence, the officer spoke.

"Okay, Onishi-san, we have an hour until they arrive. Try not to get lost," he instructed with a half-hearted attempt at humor. He was just as shocked by the revelation of the flashes of battle as the professor.

Norishige remained silent. He then got on his knees, rested his hands on his lap, and merely watched the distant glow and flickers of the ongoing battle. He couldn't take his eyes away from that sublime scene. It terrified him, yet drew him in at the same time, like an abyss or the edge of a cliff. His companions remained standing and kept their eyes on the flickering horizon to the south and southwest.

After maybe twenty minutes or so of gazing at the lights of battle in the dark, Norishige rose and looked to his companions. The colonel was no longer beside them.

"Where did he go?" Asked the professor.

"He went to the shrine," he said, nodding his head in its direction. His breath was visible in the cold, winter air. "He said he needed time alone."

Norishige turned around to see the shrine. To his surprise, it was lit up and there were a couple of figures moving around there. He hadn't seen it earlier because he had been so focused on the southern horizon. The shrine stood on the southeastern edge of the summit, only about a thousand feet away.

"Who are those men over there?" Asked the professor regarding the figures at the shrine.

"I don't know," the officer replied. "They're probably military officials. Maybe high-ranking."

"Is that where I will be picked up?"

"They will go to wherever they see my flare," said the officer, patting one of his vest pouches.

Norishige watched his breaths for a moment. It was chilly atop Mount Fuji, but he didn't mind. There were other things on his mind beside the cold. After a minute or so of standing in silence and facing to the northeast in the direction of the shrine, Norishige saw astonishment color the officers face. The officer was staring intently at something to the south.

"Oh my God," said the officer with a loud whisper. Norishige quickly turned to see what the matter was.

When he scanned the southern horizon, all he saw was the same flickers and flashes of the distant fighting.

"What is it?" Asked the professor, impatiently.

The officer merely pointed. His finger was pointing not toward the horizon, but a little toward the sky. Norishige looked to where he was pointing and soon saw what astonished the officer so. Hurtling westward through the sky was a large object whose identity Norishige hadn't yet determined. After a moment of following the object with his eyes as it flew through the sky, he realized what it was. It was a submarine.

"What the…that is a submarine! No," spoke the professor. His mind hadn't yet grasped the reality of what he was seeing.

"No…it can't be…" Uttered the officer.

The submarine, like an elongated pill from that distance, continued to tumble through the moonlit night sky in a large arc. It was then descending toward the earth. Norishige noticed that it had what looked to be a crumpled midsection. The two watched in shock as it finally crashed into the earth. No sound accompanied the crash because of the distance. It had disappeared under the thick layer of fog that hugged the moonlit landscape. After the submarine had disappeared from sight, the two men stood with complete bewilderment at what they had just witnessed. The flashes continued to light up the southern horizon.

Norishige turned to the officer after recovering from his confusion. The officer briefly exchanged the glance.

"What the hell was a submarine doing flying in the air?" Asked the professor, unnerved.

The officer was quiet for a moment, his eyes showed fear.

"It was a Horus," he quietly replied with an alarmed voice. "Only they would have the strength to do that."

"Do what? Toss a submarine like a doll?"

The officer gave no reply. His eyes looked frantic.

"Are you telling me that those metal giants can just throw a submarine like that? Like ragdolls?" Inquired Norishige with a shaky voice.

"I don't know," Said the officer with a slightly raised voice. "How else…how else would they be launched into the sky?"

"Those metal demons have the ability to launch a submarine…like a baseball!" Cried the professor, distraught.

"I said I don't know," said the officer with a shaky voice. "I'm going to the shrine…follow me."

With that, the young officer paced away toward the shrine. Norishige followed behind, his body tense. He felt a bit ashamed for not controlling his emotions. Dread had washed over him after witnessing the hurtling submarine, but a sense of resentment arose too. It might've been his mind's way of counteracting the helplessness of his dread. He directed his ire toward the creators of the robots of the swarm: Ted Faro.

However, the feeling didn't last, a weariness soon overtook him. He looked at his holo-watch. It read 8:43. He would be picked up in eighteen minutes. Anxiety struck him. At the same time, he was worried about being extracted by people he didn't know and of not being extracted at all.

As they walked along the edge of the summit to the shrine, the flashes that were to the southwest in the direction of Suruga Bay seemed to be slowly approaching. The fighting in that direction couldn't have been more than thirty miles away then. Norishige could then hear the muffled sounds of artillery fire and explosions. He still couldn't see one of those fabled metal giants, although he did search thoroughly with his gaze. He was surprised by his morbid curiosity. He wondered why he wanted to see one of them so much.

After a minute or so of walking, the flashes to the southwest suddenly ceased. The two men stopped and watched. Norishige scanned the cloud covered landscape in that direction. He looked on to see if the flashes would continue, but nothing more showed. Meanwhile, the more distant flashes in the direction of Nagoya continued.

"Sir…why did…"

"Never mind it. Let's move," said the officer sternly, interrupting the professor. They continued toward the shrine.

Norishige had a notion of what the ceasefire meant. It likely meant that the forces around Suruga Bay had succumbed. Why else would they stop firing?

After watching expectantly for a moment longer, he saw a long, metallic appendage slowly emerge above the low-lying clouds to the southwest like a serpent in the sea. It gleamed eerily in the moonlight. The appendage seemed as tall as a skyscraper in Kyoto, even from that distance. A second one emerged shortly after. The officer was seeing them too.

With that ominous sight, the two quickened their pace. All the while, Norishige kept his gaze on those metal serpents in the sea of low clouds.

—

"Right after, we saw one of those long, metal limbs rise above the low clouds. It was a metal giant! There's no doubt!" Cried the professor.

The colonel and another man, who Norishige didn't know, were troubled by his words. They looked to the officer for verification. The officer simply nodded.

"How far away are they now?" Asked the stranger.

"Twenty-five miles, sir. It was likely Shizuoka that had been overrun just now," informed the colonel.

The stranger looked at his watch, which seemed old-fashioned even for Norishige. On his lapel, Norishige saw three stars. That signified the rank of a lieutenant general in the JAGDF.

"Twelve minutes, men," he informed the three.

The colonel walked a way off and spoke inaudibly into his radio. After a minute or so, he returned to our huddled group.

"Two companies from the 10th Division are set up at Fujinoyama, they will give us enough time," said the colonel to the general.

Shortly after, a formation of low-flying aircraft suddenly speeded overhead from the northeast. Norishige quickly glanced at the aircraft in amazement. Then, he could see the general looking at him in his periphery.

"Professor Onishi…" The professor turned his attention to the general. The man had a somber look on his face.

"In the past few days, I have lost many of my men…many have died to assure your safety," said the general with a solemn tone. "I trust that you will do well in your future task, for those men that have sacrificed their lives. For this country of ours. For our world."

Norishige thought for a while, then nodded. He didn't yet know what his task would be. All that he knew was that it was an important cause, worthy of everything that had transpired to assure his safety. He briefly wondered if the general might have more information on his future task.

"Sir, do you know what my task will be? I haven't been informed of it," asked the professor, meekly.

"I do not know, but I know that it is crucial for the survival of humanity. The world will be watching your work," said the general.

He looked at his watch again.

"The extraction team will be here soon."

A brief silence followed.

"You're like my wife," said the colonel to the officer with a chuckle. "She would always want to arrive everywhere too early."

— **21:11—**

"They should have arrived by now," said the officer with a calm, yet anxious voice. "Where are they?"

The general was a few feet away on his radio. He returned shortly.

"A swarm element has landed at Numazu. There is nothing between them and us. At most, they are fifteen miles distant," said the general. Norishige shuddered at the news.

"And Gotemba? Is there no detachment there?" Asked the officer.

"No, the remaining forces are further north. They will be here soon, trust me," said the colonel with a reassuring tone. "I do not think that the people behind Onishi-san's extraction are taking this business any less serious than us."

The officer nodded his head.

Suddenly a bombardment could be seen hitting the area around Numazu in the distance about fifteen miles away. The men watched the scene from their elevation of 12,400 feet. The sounds of the explosions reached their ears. To their surprise, many of the incoming rounds, which were too small to be seen, were exploding way before they even reached land.

"Why is that happening?" Inquired the professor. "Those explosions in the sky aren't going to work, right?"

"They have an invisible umbrella as we call it…the best counter-RAM abilities I've ever witnessed in my time," said the colonel.

"Counter what?"

"The units of the swarm can shoot small rockets that intercept incoming shells or missiles. They do that with the utmost precision," he explained, his eyes still fixed on the mesmerizing scene.

Norishige kept silent. He was terrified by that revelation.

"Faro…Faro, that filthy dog!" Exclaimed the officer.

"A filthy dog is not so foolish as he," corrected the colonel.

"Yes…you're right. Forgive my insolence."

The endless explosions in the air seemed to be hitting an invisible dome. Norishige couldn't believe his eyes.

 _And we can win, if they have these abilities? It cannot be so,_ thought the professor, despairing. _It cannot be so._

They remained standing in the same spot for about twenty minutes. The bombardment had by then breached the dome and there were no more explosions in the sky. It seemed that the swarm at Numazu was either suppressed or entirely destroyed. The four men were tense throughout the whole ordeal.

Suddenly, an aircraft could be seen approaching from the northeast by its formation lights. The officer lit a green flare and waved it in the air. Soon, it landed beside the shrine, and a group of what looked to be soldiers emerged from it. Each of the seven soldiers had their rifles raised as they exited the aircraft. They then quickly approached the four men. The general and colonel approached the man with the cybernetic hand. He shook both of their hands without saying a word.

"Mr. Onishi?" Said the cybernetic man.

"Yes, I am he."

"Come with us," he commanded. "We have to leave now."

"Where will you be taking me?" Asked the professor.

"Now's not the time for explanations. Let's go!"

Norishige did as he was told, but not before bidding farewell to his brief companions.

"I didn't get your names," he said to the three men.

"Colonel Takashi Yui," said the colonel with a slight bow. They shook hands. Norishige would do the same with the other two.

"Major Eiji Moriyama," said the officer.

"Lieutenant General Matsuo Okabe, of the Western Army."

Norishige already knew of the unfortunate fate of the Western Army at Kyushu. All three of them were from that branch of the JAGDF.

He thanked each of them for their assistance, although he knew not what it was for. All he knew was that it was evidently important for humanity.

"Will you men be staying behind?" Asked the professor.

"Yes. We have to preserve our honor," said the general. "Farewell, Professor Onishi."

"We have to go now, Mr. Onishi," ordered the cybernetic man.

With that, Lt. General Okabe turned and walked to the shrine. The officer and colonel followed behind him. After Norishige was escorted to the aircraft, he looked out the door to the three men. They were then kneeling side by side with their hands on their laps. As the door of the aircraft slowly closed, Norishige saw each of the three men pull out their handguns. They each seemed to be contemplating the gun in their hands. Norishige stood up after realizing what they were about to do, but it was too late. The door of the aircraft closed shut. Norishige sat on his seat. The events preceding his extraction already seemed like a dream to him.

He knew that whatever his future task would be, he would give his greatest effort to it for the sake of humanity.

—

* * *

Even Mount Fuji 富士山でも

Cannot give me relief from 安心できない

those metal giants. それらの金属巨人

\- Lt. Gen. Matsuo Okabe, Western Army, JAGDF

—

* * *

 **A/N:** I thought that I would shake up the story a little by giving a glimpse of another event in the same universe. I might incorporate such glimpses every few chapters. Hope you enjoy. That is unless you're Ted Faro of course.


	13. Chapter 13

**Introduction: The End of Days**

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter is entirely skippable. It is merely an experiment and may be subject to deletion if I find that it interrupts the theme or flow of the story. This intro is modeled after the well done intro to the movie _Dawn of the Dead_ (2004), which makes use of brief clips of random, amateur camera footage to give a glimpse of the decline of society following the spread of the infection that turns humans into running zombies. Instead of camera footage pertaining to a zombie apocalypse, I made up my own clips, albeit in text form, relating to Horizon's Faro Plague. It's obscurity is what I wanted to make use of. To understand this introduction and enjoy it fully, please watch the two and a half minute intro to the 2004 remake of _Dawn of the Dead_ on YouTube. You won't regret it. Unfortunately, FanFiction doesn't allow for direct links to be posted, but it is a quick search.

Thank you to my small audience, especially that one guy or girl from Canada who has read every chapter so far ;). I reserved you a spot in Elysium.

* * *

 _ **Italicized**_ **Lines represent brief clips, no more than a second or two in duration. Lines in () are the lyrics of the song.  
**

 _A deep robotic humming sound joined by the sound of a large group of Muslims worshipping in a mosque._

-Static. Cut to black-

 _Brief clip (one second) of a battle-worn Scarab approaching. Screeching sound._

-Cut to black. Sound of thunder-

 _Very brief, grainy clip of a half-dissolved body. Only the clothed legs and pelvis remain._

-A second of screaming. Cut to black-

 _Clip of USRC and Civilian Guard divisions boarding large, military transports in a runway. Sound of aircraft flying. Sound of a reporter accompanies military scene._

-Cut to black. Government official stating that he will take questions-

Correspondent 1: Is it a hack?

 _Clip of a bloodied med-bot. Screaming can be heard._

-Cut to black-

O: We don't know.

Corr. 2: How does it spread? Is it purely mechanical?

 _Clip of a Scarab with a hole through its head, brooding over a twitching, mutilated body. Sound of loud shrieking._

O: That is a possibility, but we don't know.

 _Clip of a rogue, humanoid Marine bot firing at its human comrades. Agonizing screaming heard._

-Cut to black-

Corr. 3: Is this an environmental hazard or a military hazard?

O: Both.

 _Dozens of military androids lined up before a firing squad amid the sounds of a nearby battle._

Corr. 4: Have the robots achieved sentience in their rogue state?

 _Croatian police restraining a police-bot with the sound of shouting._

-Cut to view of government official hesitating. He shakes his head after the question-

O: We don't know.

-Guitar intro of Johnny Cash's "Man Comes Around"-

 _Brief clip of rioters mauling two police bots._

 _A crowd of people running away in an urban road in an unidentified city._

(There's a man goin' 'round takin' names)

 _Military vehicles evacuating a crowd of civilians. Many women and children are lined up waiting to be taken away._

(And he decides who to free and who to blame)

 _News reporter giving an urgent report. A signal interruption occurs and the reporter_ _apologizes._

(Everybody won't be treated all the same)

 _Mechanized Response and German armored vehicles moving through a_ _ruined city. A nearby building is on fire._

(There'll be a golden ladder reachin' down)

 _A pile of burning bodies followed by a cut to a brief shot of the French Gendarmerie gearing_ _up._

(When the man comes around)

 _Nanite Ascension terrorists in a gunfight with the French Gendarmerie followed by a cut_ _to a French news correspondent in Paris._

(The hairs on your arm will stand up)

 _A convoy of police vehicles driving through an empty city followed by a cut to a burning and_ _partly destroyed Faro Automated Solutions building. A short shot of a Scarab passing_

 _by the_ _window of a shop from the POV of a cameraman hiding inside._

(At the terror in each sip and in each sup)

 _A limping Scarab with two bodies impaled on its tail followed by a shot of a ruined,_ _unidentified city from a VTOL. A brief shot of a violent protest._

(Will you partake of that last offered cup)

 _Heavily armored SWAT team approaches a group of protestors affiliated with the Campaign_ _Against Killer Robots. An aerial shot of dozens of Scarabs dragging dead bodies to an_

 _unidentified shore. A very brief clip of a bloodied man with someone screaming._

(Or disappear into the potter's ground?)

 _A firefight between members of the Colorado All-Human Militia and the National Robot Guard._ _A clip of a rioter throwing a bomb into a Faro Automated Solutions retailer. Short_

 _clip of a_ _suicide bomber rushing toward a line of SWAT-bots. He explodes prematurely before the clip_ _ends._

(When the man comes around)

-Cut to black. Gunshots, screaming, and the sound of aircraft mixed together-

(Hear the trumpets hear the pipers)

 _Grainy clip of civilian and military bodies lining an urban street._

-Cut to black-

(One hundred million angels singin')

 _Clip of a robed monk sitting unflinchingly in meditation as he is dissolved by a nearby Scarab's_ _nano-haze._

(Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum)

 _Countless drone helicopters shown filling the skies. The sound of their blades cutting the air is_ _audible. A short clip of an endless row of body bags on a rooftop followed by a_

 _close up of a_ _weary face._

(Voices callin', voices cryin')

 _An officer speaking to a news correspondent receives a message on his radio. He apologizes and_ _walks away quickly while speaking into the radio._

(Some are born and some are dyin')

-Cut to black. Sound of a woman speaking as if reporting or answering a question-

 _She is shown to be a renowned British nanorobotics tycoon. She is accompanied by armed,_ _military bodyguards and are awaiting a drone to land and extract them. Suddenly,_

 _one of the_ _bodyguard fires at something out of view. Gunshots and screaming can be heard._

(It's alpha and omega's kingdom come)

 _The woman is quickly escorted to the drone VTOL while the other bodyguards fire into_ _something out of view._

-Cut to black-

(And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree)

 _Close up of a ruined car with a toy Scarab hanging by a string from the rearview mirror._

(The virgins are all trimming their wicks)

 _Aerial view at dawn from the POV of a military aircraft of bombers carpet bombing an_ _unidentified city. A short clip of a cameraman filming the bomber formations overhead as_

 _the_ _bombs descend toward him and the crowd watching in silence. A clip of the British Prime_ _Minister with a grave expression, preparing to give a speech. Bodyguards stand on_

 _either_ _side of her, eyeing a crowd out of view. One of them suddenly rushes to unholster his pistol. The_ _second one quickly grabs the PM. Shouting heard._

-Cut to black. A low humming sound is heard followed by static-

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts

And I looked, and behold a pale horse

And his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him."

—

* * *

"To make anything very terrible, obscurity seems in general to be necessary." - Edmund Burke, _On the Sublime_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: A Group of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)**

* * *

 **Audio Datapoint: PTSD - Sgt. Rivers, 01/14/65:** I just couldn't go again...I was supposed to be deployed to France on Thursday, but decided to go AWOL instead. I felt ashamed for a day at my cowardice, but then I remembered my wife waiting for me at home, in Michigan. I remembered the green grass in the front yard, the pine tree across the street. All a stark contrast to the devastation in the Punjab. But how will I be able to look at her face again without seeing those masses of bloodied faces, dissolved by that black smoke? Maybe I'm too fucked up to be with her again...maybe I should just kill myself...

* * *

 **3/26/65: Morning**

"…government officials have denied any connection to the mysterious abductions that have..."

Sophie turned off her radio, then rose from her chair and walked to the green wooden railing lining the walkway. She leaned her hands on it. I noticed that the wood of the railing looked to have been painted long ago; there were many chips in the greenish paint beside Sophie's pale hands. It was then that I noticed a light scar on her left forearm. It was about half a foot in length. I wondered if it was related to her time with the U.S.R.C.

Ada and I stood right behind the tall woman, waiting for her to address us. She was looking over the valley to the west, silent. Not a sound could be heard beside the distant chirping of birds. I felt a light breeze blow against my body. It brought with it a sense of renewal. I gazed at the distant Massanutten Mountain ridge in the morning light as I waited for Sophie to speak. The refreshing green of the western scene was a stark contrast to the present state of the eastern hemisphere.

"Japan," she quietly said all of a sudden as if talking to herself.

I shifted my attention to the back of her head, her shoulder length, red-brown hair.

Silence reigned again afterward. Ada and I remained where we were.

"It was a beautiful country…peaceful."

Ada and I glanced at each other briefly. We listened on.

"Not that I've ever been there in person," she said with a low voice.

After a second or so, she slowly turned to us. She looked at us briefly, leaning with her back against the rail, then cast her eyes downward.

"You guys want to visit Japan, for the scenery," she uttered, hesitating. "I don't think…"

Ada and I looked at her lowered eyes with anticipation. What was she meaning to tell us? Then, she raised her eyes to us in deep thought.

"What am I going on about?" She shook her head dismissively. "I haven't even learned your names yet."

"Um, I'm Michael," I meekly said.

She gave a small smile and shook my hand firmly. Her complexion had a kind, yet weary look to it.

"I'm Ada." They shook hands too. Afterward, Ada clasped her hands in front of her.

"You both look so young," she said with a kind smile. "I'm worried that there'll be more amorous behavior in our group now."

Ada and I smiled at her lighthearted words.

"So, what brings you two to my little hideout?" She asked, leaning against the railing and crossing her arms. "Planning to oust me and take over?"

We laughed at her joking insinuation.

"We wanted to visit the park; we were staying at Front Royal. So, we drove here and met Ayame and her husband at the office and…things went from there," Ada explained politely.

"Ah, I see," she said, studying both of us. "Are you two…together?"

"No, were just friends," Ada replied with a smile. "He's celibate, anyway."

Sophie chuckled. I chuckled at Ada's mocking humor.

"Are you really?" Asked the tall woman, studying me.

"Yes, I am," I said, continuing the joke. "No relationships for me."

I saw Ada smiling at me in the corner of my eye. Sophie simply eyed me, amused.

"That's silly," she said. I kept a serious face. "You would deny yourself intimacy."

I chuckled and Ada shook her head with a smile.

"We're kidding," she said to Sophie. "He's not really celibate. He does want to live like Emerson and Wordsworth, though."

I didn't really admire Emerson as much as she might've believed. I had merely mentioned his name earlier in our drive here because his name was easily recognizable as the epitome of nature writing and a nature centered lifestyle. I admired the Zen poets and masters more so than that man. I felt that his writing didn't embody the inherent wonder of nature and solitude as much as the simplistic poems of the Zen teachers.

"Well, you came to the right place then, young man," Sophie said to me with a warm smile.

I smiled too, happy to be in the quiet park. We had the secluded nature all to ourselves. Sophie studied us for a moment more again.

"So…where did you guys come from?" She inquired.

"We came from Alexandria," I replied.

"Alexandria!" She exclaimed, surprised. "When were you guys there last?"

"We were there yesterday evening. We'd just missed the fighting," I explained.

"Yesterday! You guys were close then," she said with a raised voice. "So, you didn't see any fighting at all? You were so near the coast."

"Well," Ada said, looking at me. "We had a close call with one of the robots near the Potomac. It had emerged from the river close to where we had been sitting on the grass."

Sophie stared at Ada with utter surprise.

"You guys saw a Scarab?! Were you guys alone?! Were there any soldiers nearby?!" She asked, intrigued. She was no longer leaning against the railing and was standing upright in her excitement.

"No, there was no one around. It didn't seem interested in pursuing us, though, thankfully," said Ada with an excited voice.

I remembered the sight of that unmoving Scarab as I had seen it from my rearview mirror. It had simply been watching us as we had fled in our cars.

Ada was just as into sharing the story as Sophie was into listening. I merely studied Sophie's expressions, amused by her wholehearted interest in our experience. I was already starting to warm to her.

"And it was alone?"

"Yeah," Ada replied.

Sophie seemed to be pondering something then.

"A scout. You guys were lucky then," she said with a low voice. "They usually aren't as dangerous when they're in that role."

Ada and I trusted her words.

"They are sadistic. They enjoy killing, I know they do," Sophie uttered.

I winced at her words. It terrified me to think of a killer robot being actively sadistic, enjoying the suffering of us humans.

"Do they actually enjoy killing? I don't believe it," I asked, morbidly curious.

Sophie suddenly stared right into my soul. Her gray eyes showed something then, something I couldn't understand. I was drawn into her vacant stare until she spoke again a moment later.

"They can do many things with that tail of theirs," she said with a nervous voice. "They do things to people that are…unnecessary, strange. They're all sadistic, I know it. If they had mouths, they would be laughing at their carnage."

Sophie suddenly lowered her eyes. Ada and I glanced furtively at each other. We were both frightened by her words. I thought that speaking then would be unfitting, so I remained silent. After a few seconds, Sophie lifted her face again, although her eyes remained looking downward.

"Forgive me…I just really hate those…things," she said with a calmer voice. "Follow me. I'll show you to the group. I'm sure you'll love them."

With that, she led us in the direction of the entrance to the Skyland Office, where we had first entered. We passed by its doors and were led to the larger building that was to the right of the registration office. As we walked in silence, I noticed little paw prints and leaf imprints upon the pathway. They were all mixed together. The silence and coolness of that morning was refreshing, and I walked with light steps. Ada looked at me with a smile and pushed on me lightly again. I made a playful show of keeping my distance from her as we walked, and she smiled. I knew better than to linger my eyes on her beautiful face for more than was necessary. Otherwise, my heart would be swelling and dipping like a boat on rough seas and I didn't want to put my heart through any more of that.

"You know, I was just thinking that it's a coincidence that you two arrived here. There's a girl and guy, both single. They haven't taken a romantic liking to each other, but maybe they will with you two," said Sophie suddenly as we walked.

I felt embarrassed by her words. I wondered why she would even bring up such a subject to people that she had just met. I hadn't even met the girl that she'd spoken of, and she was already considering a possible relationship between the two of us. I briefly glanced at Ada and saw that her cheeks were reddened.

"Oh, no," I said dismissively. "I'm not…thinking about relationships right now."

"You're not celibate, though, right?" Sophie added, smiling at me.

"No, I'm not, I'm just…not ready for that yet."

"Ready? When the world's about to end?" she remarked, looking back at me.

We walked along a path adjacent to the parking lot as Sophie led us along. Six cars were parked right beside each other along the path.

"The world's not going to end," I coolly replied, worried by her insinuation.

"Not ending? What do you mean?" She asked, looking at me with a puzzled look as we walked.

"I mean that we still have Zero Dawn," I said self-assuredly.

"Zero Dawn, huh? If I had a V-coin for every time I heard that," she said with a chuckle.

I was taken aback by her mocking tone. What was she trying to say? Her having been a soldier had given her words more weight to me.

"You don't believe in it?" I asked calmly, trying to hide my worry.

"Of course I believe in it. There's not much else to believe in now," she replied.

Her answer didn't placate my worrying mind, but I didn't push the subject anymore. She wasn't one of the secretive scientists behind Zero Dawn after all; she likely knew just as little as about the project as the rest of us. I heard the sound of distant thunder. I looked at the sky to see that it was cloudier and grayer than before. I hadn't paid attention to the change in weather. We were nearing the large building where the group was hanging out.

"I was just taking into account possible future relationships. I don't really care if you guys get together with those two. I like to predict things beforehand. Surprises are not my thing," Sophie explained.

That did make sense to me. She did come across as the analytical type.

"Just abide by rule number five and we will be fine," she said, to our amusement. "If you so choose to fornicate, do so out of earshot or be quiet about it, please."

Only our footsteps were heard in the brief silence.

"So, has that been an issue here? Loud…sex," Ada asked.

"I'm afraid so. You'll meet the two lovebirds soon. They've been the only culprits. I nearly kicked them out with my sec-bots a few weeks back, but they've been well behaved lately. Don't be surprised if your awakened by loud moaning," she explained with a serious tone.

Ada and I chuckled at her dry humor.

"You can see why I worry about your possible relationships with the two that I mentioned. Imagine the sound of moaning coming from all around at once! No, I didn't fight in Hanoi to come home to that!" She exclaimed.

Ada and I chuckled again. She was being unintentionally funny, or so I believed. Eventually, we arrived at the doors of the building. Three signs like the one at registration hung one above one of the large windows of the gift shop. It read the following:

Skyland Dining Room

Crafts & Gifts

Taproom

My memory of being here six years ago with Nicole and her family flooded into my mind then. We had shared a kiss near here when it had been nearly nighttime. We had left our rooms under the pretense that we would go and hang out at the Skyland Dining Room, but we had really escaped to some secluded area nearby. I forgot where exactly that spot was. I briefly wondered why the memory acts the way it does, bringing memories to mind without warning. I remembered the feeling that I had felt on my lips as they had met Nicole's. I remembered her rose colored lips in the dim light of twilight.

 _I need to get away from this memory,_ I thought. _I won't have it._

In my preoccupation with trying to forget that memory, I suddenly laid my eyes on Ada, who was right beside me as we entered the building. I was momentarily stunned by the sense that Nicole was right beside me as if she had materialized from my sudden memory of her. It was a few seconds before I recovered from my confusion.

 _She's not Nicole. She's a different person._

I was averse to sentimentality by habit, but I couldn't help noticing that her hair was like Nicole's. It was even short, barely reaching her shoulders, like Nicole's. Ada's hair was slightly darker, but it didn't detract from the stark similarity. However, Nicole had possessed a barely noticeable scar, a quarter of an inch in length, on the right side of her neck, which she had received on her light skin many years ago. I had called it a beautiful adornment of sorts in the past. It had been my excuse to her to kiss it whenever I could. I remembered that she had given me a scar on the same spot on my neck by biting it. That feeling of having been bitten by her all those years ago was ingrained in my memory. Suddenly, I felt a longing for intimacy. How can one simply get used to the absence of the warmth of a loved one, especially after it having been a norm for my whole life?

"You okay?" Ada suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You look down."

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I replied. "I was just thinking about my parents…I'm just a little worried about them."

"Don't worry," she kindly said. "They'll be fine. Colorado's the safest place to be."

Sophie was walking about ten feet ahead of us and hadn't heard our talking. She was leading us to the dining room. The muted sound of voices could be heard emanating from the dining room, but we couldn't yet see anyone from our point of view. We followed behind her and were soon at the entrance to the large dining area. Sophie had stopped right at the entrance, looking at the people whose voices we were hearing.

"May I have your attention, please," Sophie commanded.

Ada and I stopped right beside her, and we saw the small group that we would soon be a part of. Little did I know that I was then looking upon the group of people that Ada and I would form the strongest of bonds and share horrific experiences with during the course of the war. There they all sat around a wooden dining table. The picture was etched into my heart. There were five, eight with Sophie, Ayame, and Makoto, the latter two being at the registration office. Ada and I would make ten. They all shifted their attention to us with expectant gazes.

"I want to introduce you all to two new additions to our little gang," Sophie announced. "This is Ada"—Ada smiled with her hands clasped before her—"This is Michael."

After a moment of eyeing us with curious stares, the small group suddenly burst into a noise of warm welcoming.

"Get your asses over here!" Yelled one of the two men in a friendly manner.

He had a short, dark beard and a jolly appearance. The lady sitting to his right had her arm around his shoulders, smiling. The second guy had a serious face, but he had a subtle smile and a look of interest. His dark blond hair looked to be gelled back. Both of the men and the lady with her arms around the bearded guy seemed to be in their thirties. The last two were a woman that looked to be in her late twenties and a younger one that looked to be my age. I would be lying if I were to say that I hadn't noticed the loveliness of the younger woman. They were all beckoning us to join them. Their warm welcomes made my heart soar with joy. It would forever remain with me, that feeling of being welcomed during the end.

Ada and I sat beside each other on chairs that were pulled out for both of us. The five were eyeing us with interested gazes. Sophie had walked toward the large windows of the dining room, looking out toward the gray skies.

"Ada, Michael," said the bearded man with a wide smile and a jovial voice. "I am Bryan."

Ada and I smiled and nodded politely.

"I'm Hannah," said the woman with her right arm around Bryan.

"I'm Albert," said the serious, yet kindly looking blond man.

"I'm Ella," said the lady who looked to be in her late twenties.

"I'm Adele," said the younger of the women.

I didn't linger my eyes on her, but she was undeniably pretty. I don't merely mean physically beautiful, but a beauty that showed in her demeanor and her eyes. She looked reserved and quiet, or so I thought in my first impression of her. My noticing her beauty didn't necessarily mean that I was enamored with her. I simply acknowledged her beauty as I would naturally acknowledge the beauty of a tree or flower. Beauty cannot go unnoticed after all.

"Have you guys eaten yet?" Asked Ella kindly.

"Oh, yes, we have," Ada politely replied. I nodded my head, smiling meekly.

"Are you two together?" Ella asked, intrigued.

"No, they're not. Michael is celibate," she said with a serious tone.

"Celibate?! Are you from the Texas Bubble?" Asked Bryan. "Only they would be so silly as to be…I don't even want to say that word again!"

Ada and I laughed. The group looked at us expectantly.

"He's not celibate. She's joking," Ada explained.

"Good! I was going to perform the Heimlich maneuver on you to oust that celibacy out of your throat!" Exclaimed Bryan humorously.

I laughed heartily. I would likely be crushed to death if he had done so.

"Bryan," said Sophie with a commanding tone. "No violence in my resort."

"Yes, Ms. Murell. I was joking, like you were," said Bryan submissively, yet mischievously.

"Mr. Rost, a joke implies funniness," quipped Sophie.

"Oh, come on Sophie. You know I'm funny," he merrily retorted.

Sophie gave a mechanical laugh to our amusement. Sophie walked by us, gently pushing Bryan's head, then walked to exit the dining room.

"I'm gonna be in the restroom," she said to us. "We'll all walk a trail at o' nine hundred for bonding purposes."

"Did someone say bonding?" Shouted Mr. Rost, to which Hannah smacked him on the shoulder with a smile. They kissed each other in the brief silence.

Everyone in the group happily consented to Sophie's words. Ada and I were smiling at the kindness of our new friends. We had immediately felt received with open arms. An apocalypse has a way of crafting the strongest of bonds between people. If at the time I had been wise enough to learn from my recent loss of my best friend that all friendships are temporal, subject to an inevitable end, I would've cherished every moment even more so with that group of wonderful people.

–—–

About a quarter of an hour later, we were still sitting at the table in the dining room, talking with each other. It had started pouring outside a few minutes ago and our planned hike had been postponed for later. Sophie Murell was sitting alone on a table beside the window, gesturing with the invisible display of her Focus.

"So, your father was in the air force?" Hannah asked of me.

"Yes, he was an officer. I haven't heard from him lately, but I think he was recalled to Colorado for some military assignment there. He had told me of something along those lines a while ago," I said.

I remembered the day when my father had told me that they might move back to Colorado for a new job offer. I had been visiting on my mother's birthday a few months ago. He had told me on that night that he was mostly reluctant to take the job because they had been so accustomed to their home in Alexandria and his job at D.C. However, the new job had listed a plethora of benefits that were hard to pass. When I had asked him what the offer had been, he had told me that it had to do with operations security or OPSEC as it was called. He had also said that it likely had a connection with the revival of the U.S. Air Force of old. There were many air force installations in the state of Colorado after all.

"And yours too?" She asked Ada.

"Yes, he was with the Air Mobility Command," Ada replied.

I was surprised to learn that her father was in the air force too. We had something substantial to relate to each other with, namely the unique childhood that children of military personnel had experienced right before the automation of the U.S. military.

"That sounds important," Hannah remarked, interested in what we had to say. "Is he fighting on the coast?"  
"No, he's likely doing behind-the-scenes work. The AMC is responsible for transporting stuff to the frontlines," said Ada.

"Ah, I see. That's good then, he's safe," Hannah said.

Afterward, we each got entangled into separate conversations, Ada with Ella, Hannah, and Bryan and I with Adele and Albert. The rain continued pouring outside and loud thunder could be heard. It made for a cozy and intimate atmosphere.

"So, tell me, young man, what is it that brings you here to a secluded park in the fringes of a warzone. Is it the seclusion itself you seek?" Asked Albert with a monotone, sophisticated voice.

He was intelligent, yet modest in his demeanor. He had a very scientific gaze for lack of a better word.

"It was actually the seclusion that I was looking for, yes," I replied. "And the natural setting."

"I am the same. Seclusion is conducive to observation and studying. Are you in high school?" He asked.

"Oh, no. I'm in college. I'm a second-year student," I answered.

"And your major?"

"Cell biology, and minoring in English."

"Ah, cell biology and English are a wonderful mixture. You see, the discoveries of science, biology, chemistry, and such, are infinitely more sublime than any religious doctrine known to man, yet there are few scientists that have the skill to convey that wonder in writing," he said rather articulately.

I was impressed, especially because I agreed with him. I was drawn in by his monotone, yet strangely soothing voice.

"I agree with you completely," I said. "Are you a scientist?"

"Yes, a professor in virology," he replied. "I had been working on creating a monumental, nanorobotics-based drug to permanently cure the human papillomavirus, but the untimely war had put an end to that endeavor indefinitely."

"HPV? I had read about the mechanism of action behind that virus a while ago. It's interesting, but I've only scratched the surface," I said, intrigued by our conversation.

"Well, we have all the time until Zero Dawn materializes to study. We have the resources at our disposal. What do you say I take you under my wing?" He suggested.

"Yes, I'd be happy to learn more," I replied. "I'll think about it."

I was interested in biology, but I was reluctant to recreate the routine environment of school in what was to be my nature refuge.

"I've been teaching Ms. Doncaster, you can join us," he added, referring to Adele. "Mr. Rost, on the contrary, isn't interested in embarking on my scientific journey with us. "

"It's because your way of teaching is dense," said Bryan, who had heard Albert.

Everyone at the table was listening to the two men with amusement.

"Dense?"

"Yes, you introduce advanced subjects before even laying out the basics."

"Do I?" Inquired Albert with an even tone.

"Yes."

"How hard can it be to grasp that the molecular arrangement of a viral capsid influences its viral properties?" Albert inquired, completely serious.

"See?!" Bryan exclaimed, looking at me with wide eyes as if trying to get me on his side.

Everyone laughed at their disputing. Albert simply shook his head with a gentle disdain.

"Mr. Wester, check this out," Sophie suddenly said.

She was still gesturing with her Focus at the table beside the wet window. Albert immediately rose from his chair and joined her. We all then continued with our individual conversations.

I glanced at Adele, who was sitting across the table from me, and saw that she was eyeing me with some degree of interest. I quickly averted my eyes because she was looking straight into my eyes as if to invade my soul in an amorous way. I looked over to Ada and saw that she was immersed in her conversation with Ella. As I furtively watched, Ella suddenly lifted Ada's right hand in hers and kissed it quickly. I was taken aback by the gesture. It seemed to me that it wouldn't be a man that would divide Ada's attention, but a woman. Of course, that was if Ada was into girls, the possibility of which I hoped against. I studied Ada's face after the kiss. Her cheeks reddened, but she didn't seem smitten by the kiss. I sneaked a glance at Ella's expression and saw that she looked slightly abashed. Suddenly, Ella glanced at me and I quickly averted my gaze. A clap of thunder sounded all of a sudden.

"Michael," said Adele. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty," I said with a polite smile. "You?"

"I'm twenty-two. I'm old, I know," she joked.

I smiled. We looked at each other for a moment. I realized that I didn't even know how old Ada was yet. I decided that I would ask her later.

"Mind if I call you Mikey?" She asked.

"Um, I guess not. I've never heard that name before," I smiled.

"It's a cute name," she said with playful eyes.

"Is it?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward.

"Yeah," she quipped.

"I prefer Michelle," I joked. She smiled.

"Okay, _Michelle_ ," she said with a playful tone. I smiled at her charming personality.

I briefly studied her complexion. She had dark blue eyes and vermilion lips in the shape of a bow. She bore no resemblance to Nicole, needless to say, but she was still beautiful in her own way. I sneaked another glance at Ada to see what she and Ella were doing and saw that she was watching me. She might've been interested in my conversation with Adele. Ella was presently speaking to Hannah. Then, Ella asked Ada a question and Ada shifted her gaze to the woman.

"So, how did you end up here?" I asked Adele.

"I came here with my friend Ella," she said, gesturing toward her friend. "We came here to visit the park before heading further west and we met Ayame. She begged us to stay for a while. We liked it here, so we gave up our plans to go inland."

I nodded.

"What brings _you_ here?" She asked with a sweet smile.

"I came here with Ada. We wanted to visit the park too and we met Ayame. She welcomed us to stay," I replied.

"Well, Ayame got a good catch today," she said, looking right into my eyes.

My face might've reddened, but I couldn't see it. I wondered what she meant by "good catch."

"Good catch? Are you planning to eat us like fish?" I quipped to ease my tension. She chuckled.

"So, she's not your girlfriend?"

"Oh, no. We're just friends."

"Oh."

We eyed each other for a little while. I felt my emotional restraints dissolving. She seemed so inviting and I felt willing to accept whatever interest she had in me. I realized that I just needed to be with someone again. The sporadic resurfacing of my memories of Nicole had kindled a longing for intimacy with someone else. Ada looked too much like Nicole for me to want to be romantically involved with her. It would hurt too much to do so. Yes, she was lovely, and I was attracted to her, but I didn't want to feel the pain of constantly realizing that she wasn't Nicole. At that moment, I decided that I would willingly accept Adele's advances, if they were really that at all. I hoped that they were.

"Are you in a relationship?" I asked, suddenly desperate for intimacy.

"No, you?" She asked, intrigued.

"No."

I saw her glance at my lips. I did the same. In retrospect, the seclusion of our little group in the park, the ongoing apocalypse, and a mutual attraction had sparked our interest in each other as we conversed.

I made a show of eyeing her to hopefully convey my interest. She seemed to be returning the expectant gaze. My breathing quickened. I briefly wondered what Nicole would think if she were to have seen me so brazenly show an interest in another girl. I let that mental restraint go for the time being.

"Wanna hang out in the lounge?" Adele asked with expectant eyes. Her red lips were so alluring then.

"Okay," I obediently said, my heart pounding with excitement.

I remembered that in my relationship with Nicole, I had been, for the most part, romantically obedient to her.

With that, we quietly rose from our chairs and made our way to exit the dining room. Before we were five feet away, Ada spoke up.

"Hey, Michael," She suddenly called in a friendly manner. "Where're you heading?"

I turned around to face her. The whole group was eyeing us both. Even Sophie was watching us with amusement. I thought we had been furtive about our plan to slip away.

"We're just gonna hang out in the lounge," I plainly said.

"Oh, the lounge? I wanna go," she said lightheartedly, rising from her chair to join us.

"Let's go," I said in a welcoming way.

I really wanted to go with Adele alone and get to know her more away from the group, but I wasn't going to say no to Ada. I was happy that she was coming along. After all, I still wanted to develop a close friendship with her.

"Have fun, guys," Hannah remarked.

"Yeah, have fun," said Ella with a playful smile directed at Adele. "You know what, I wanna join in on the fun too."

Ella then rose from her seat and joined us. Hannah was watching us with amusement. Bryan kissed her hand lovingly as she watched us. Albert and Sophie were presently immersed in their important conversation.

"Let's go," said Ella, who wrapped her right arm around Ada's shoulders.

As we turned to walk toward the front lounge ahead of Ada and Ella, I was still feeling enamored of Adele's beauty. It was strange how sudden the onset of the charm was. My desire to get to know Adele more still fired within me, but I thought that the time would come for that.

—

* * *

 **A/N:** The names Bryan and Hannah were taken from the names of the real life man and woman that Rost and Aloy were modeled after, namely Bryan Larkin and Hannah Hoekstra. I imagined their real life models as the characters for Bryan and Hannah in this chapter and I'm content with that.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Oblivion**

* * *

 **Internally Displaced Person (IDP):** persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

* * *

 **Spring - 3/26/65**

Thankfully, I wasn't one to be so easily transported by any passion for another girl. Nicole had been the only one in my life to hold that power over me. Therefore, as the four of us walked to the lounge adjacent to the dining room, my initial obsession with Adele's beauty, which had grown during our meeting at the table, was already beginning to subside. It seemed that Adele's interest in me, if it had really been interest, had subsided as well. Yes, she was beautiful, but that love-poisoned arrow that had pierced my heart many years ago with my having fallen in love with Nicole was still lodged deep into my aortic valve. No arrow could yet outdo that age-old arrow that had become a part of the make-up of my heart. Of course, the arrow dipped in Ada's beauty-potion was yet to strike me, or so I thought.

With my passion for Adele diminished sufficiently, the four of us merely conversed with each other in a friendly manner. I got to know Adele as did Ada. I got to know Ella and she learned a little about me. Soon, the four of us developed a mutual liking for each other.

I learned that Adele was studying to become a botanist, Ella had received her master's degree in English literature, and Ada was had been planning to pursue a master's in evolutionary biology. We had an animated discussion on various facets of biology, and we were each overjoyed to have found others that were so passionate about nature and learning. Ella told us about an apocalyptic novel that Mary Shelley had written titled _The Last Man,_ the descriptive passages of which mirrored the abandoned state of coastal towns across the eastern seaboard. Ada vented her sadness for the probable extinction of various mammalian species in the Indian subcontinent. Adele sympathized with Ada with her sorrow over the likely destruction of evergreen forests in the subarctic regions, although she held hope that the forests in Siberia and most of Canada were yet preserved. I felt no urge to speak and only listened to their impassioned words, intrigued by what they had to say.

As I had been sitting and listening attentively, Ada, who was sitting beside me, suddenly put her left arm around my shoulder as if we had known each other for years; it certainly felt that way. I felt delight grow tenfold with her gesture. To my embarrassment, I briefly held her hand, which rested on my left shoulder, but quickly removed it. It was a habit of mine to do so whenever Nicole would drape her arm around me. However, the brief touch invaded my mind and I longed to feel her hand in mine again. I didn't glance at Ada to see her reaction. I merely acted as if I had meant to scratch my neck and had accidentally touched her hand in doing so.

If this account was merely fiction, a self-indulgent author might've used this circumstance to satisfy his own fantasies by having Adele fall madly in love with the main character at first sight, but this account of mine is of reality and reality is never so entirely subservient to the desires of one person. Neither will the self-indulgent entanglements of jealousy between these young women surface in this tight-knit group of ours because such qualities in a story are only ever crafted to indulge an unrestrained writer's suppressed desires.

–—–

"So, what about you Michael? What do you have to say about cell biology?" Asked Ada, whose arm was still hanging over my left shoulder.

Adele and Ella looked at me expectantly. They had shared their passion for their respective subjects, but I hadn't done so yet.

"Um, there's a lot really, I don't know," I replied dismissively.

I really just wanted to hear them talk and listen in the background. Their knowledge on biological and literary topics had interested me greatly.

"Come on," Adele urged lightheartedly.

"Yeah, come on," Ada insisted. I smiled at their persistence.

"Well, cells look really cool I guess," I said, feigning disinterest in my major.

"Yeah, they're hot, aren't they," joked Ella. "Sexy little bitches."

We all laughed at her sudden remark.

"Why'd you think I'm majoring in cell biology?" I asked, continuing the joke.

"Oh, aren't you funny," Ada mocked in a joking way. She was evidently the teasing type.

"Yes, I think I'm kinda funny," I said with a nod.

"Sure," Ada retorted.

"If you're so funny, tell us a joke," Adele suggested. I felt happiness with the light banter.

"A joke?"

"Yeah, come on Mr. Funny Pants," Adele said.

"Okay," I said thinking of a joke to say. "Okay, I have one. English majors."

It was directed toward Ella, who had a master's in English literature. I had thought of that blunt joke because I had once decided to major in English and knew of the jokes directed at English majors. Adele was the only one that laughed. Ella simply stared at me with her mouth wide open as if offended.

"Very funny, ha-ha," Ella responded lightheartedly.

"And you, Mr. Cell Biology?" said a female voice from the dining room entrance. It was Sophie, who had just entered the lounge. "I imagine you'll be swimming in money after you graduate."

"I'll be able to see my pay under a microscope," I replied in a self-deprecating way. Sophie chuckled.

"Ella might need an electron microscope to see hers," Sophie joked as she walked by the couch that Ella was sitting on.

"Ms. Murell! I didn't know you were so rude!" Said Ella with a smile.

"Oh, come on, Ella," Sophie said before walking out the front door. The rain had stopped, but the distant sound of thunder could still be heard.

"I'll remember what you just said for the rest of my life," said Ella with a feigned indignation.

"Don't be so dramatic. You know I love your English lectures," Sophie said as she held the door open, ready to exit.

"Yeah, don't be so dramatic, Ella," quipped Adele, who went to sit beside her friend. She gave a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Don't be so dramatic?" She continued. "How can I not be when I heard you flirting with our new friend earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Adele with reddened cheeks.

"I heard you guys talking earlier," said Ella, gesturing to me. "Good catch, right? I thought you guys were going to start making out on top of the table."

Adele laughed. Ada and I were listening to them with amusement. Ada's arm was still around my shoulders.

"I wasn't flirting with him, Ella, geez," replied Adele. "Anyway, I saw you with your arm around Ada earlier, so I should be mad at you too."

"Fine then. Give me another kiss and I won't be mad anymore," Ella said, tapping her cheek.

Adele gave another quick kiss on her cheek and shook her head afterward with a little smile and a feigned look of disdain at her friend. Ella wrapped her right arm around Adele's waste in a possessive manner.

"As you can see, Adele's my girlfriend," Ella said, looking at me with feigned jealousy. Adele shook her head again with a smile.

"No, I'm not," said Adele, smiling.

"Stop lying," said Ella, tickling Adele's side.

"Okay, stop," said Adele, laughing.

"Tell them that you're my girlfriend."

"No."

"You're so stubborn," said Ella, kissing her friend's forehead. She then looked at us. "She's my girlfriend. You hear?"

Ada and I nodded, smiling.

"I'm not your girlfriend," said Adele with a small laugh, rising from her seat beside her friend and sitting beside Ada on the couch opposite Ella's.

"She's just in denial," Ella said, looking sternly at Adele. "Anyway, cell biology. It's a fascinating subject. I've seen a lot of images of the cells of different animals. Very lewd and erotic."

With that, Ella and I talked about biology, English literature, and life in general. I told her that I had been minoring in English and we began to talk about 18th century British literature. Ada and Adele were having their own conversation beside me. Once in a while, one of the two would laugh at something that the other had said. We talked in this way for a while, maybe an hour, but I didn't keep track of the time.

–—–

About half an hour or so later, our conversation had become more personal and somber.

"She was in Guangzhou when the swarm invaded. She was a teacher there at an elementary school…I haven't heard from her since December," Ella said with a low voice.

She was staring at the wooden coffee table between the two couches, her right elbow resting on the top of the couch and her head resting on her right hand. Ada and I were on the couch opposite her. Adele had rejoined her friend and was looking at her lap with melancholic eyes.

I knew that China had been a popular destination for college graduates in the U.S. because of the promising job opportunities there. Guangdong province in the southeast had been especially renowned for its opportunities. I remember Nicole having told me that her father had been considering a job there long ago when we were still in middle school. Thankfully, he had found a job that didn't require for her to move away during our early years together.

"What about you, Michael?" Ella asked after a long pause.

"I've lost a friend," I said with my eyes downcast. "She was a close friend."

"Where?" Ella asked.

"Belgium. Her father had been recalled into the air force when they were there. He was at SHAPE. He had to stay and fight," I stoically explained.

"SHAPE?" Ella inquired.

"It's the NATO headquarters in Belgium," I replied. Ella nodded.

I didn't want to invite sympathy. Luckily, they were the type to offer a silence rather than empty words of consolation. They each knew the feeling of losing someone close to them and knew that words were pointless. Words can't revive the dead. Even science wasn't yet at that stage of development.

"And you Ada?" Asked Ella after a long pause.

"I lost my sister. She was in London, working for Miri-Tec," Ada stoically replied, her eyes downcast too as she spoke.

I gazed at the unvarnished, wooden surface of the low table between me and Ella. A long, drawn out silence followed after Ada's words.

"My dad was in Britain too when it was invaded," Adele said after the long pause. "He was with the navy, helping people escape across the channel," she explained, her left hand being held by Ella.

She gave a low sigh. I glanced at her and saw that she was staring intently at Ella's hand, which held hers. I averted my gaze, worried that I might see her sadness, and thinking that witnessing it would be rude. As a gazed at my plain shoes, I felt Ada rest her hand upon mine. I looked at her and gave a small smile of gratitude for the gesture. It did lift my heart to feel her soft hand on mine.

"Everyone's fucking dying," said Ella with a low voice amid the silence.

She had made that remark in a serious manner. It was rather blunt, but I understood where it had come from. Adele suddenly chuckled amid the brief silence.

"You're so inappropriate, Ella," she said with a small laugh. Ella smiled at her and shook her head.

"I'm happy that you're not fucking dead, though, Addie," said Ella, emphasizing the f-word. Adele laughed again sweetly.

Although she used that curse word, her gentle voice and soft, kindly demeanor seemed to counterbalance its harshness. Her appearance was nowhere near rough or unlikable. She nearly matched the loveliness of her friend, although her beauty wasn't as delicate. Ella was good-looking, but Adele was pretty. Ella gave a quick kiss to her friend's hand.

"We're all internally displaced persons, aren't we?" Ella uttered, speaking to no one in particular.

I smiled at her use of that term. Internally displaced. That was the term for those who were displaced from their homes but were still within the same country. That as opposed to the definition of a refugee, which is a person who had been forced to flee his country. I had certainly felt "internally displaced," especially after losing my best friend.

After that, we were all silent for a long while, staring downward, lost in reflection or reminiscing about old friends lost to the war. Adele was then laying down on the couch, her head resting on Ella's lap.

I was thinking about my parents, my sister. I hoped that they had already made it to Colorado, well away from the eastern and western coasts. I wondered if my sister would have her cousins to keep her company there during the war.

–—–

About another half hour later, Sophie returned and told everyone in the group that we would all eat before walking one of the scenic trails. The rain had stopped long ago, and the clouds had dissipated. The four of us rejoined the group at the table in the dining room. Hannah and Bryan welcomed us all warmly again as if we had been gone for long. A chef-bot, which I hadn't seen till then, emerged from the kitchen and took our orders. To my relief, everyone ordered relatively small meals; I wanted to eat little too and was glad that I wouldn't be the odd one out in doing so. As I've mentioned already, I wasn't one to overindulge in food or relish. I was content with simple food, with whatever simply freed my body from hunger.

We mainly ate in a pleasant silence but would occasionally talk with each other. Bryan and Hannah would occasionally feed the other in an amorous way with mutual smiles. Albert ate his small bowl of pasta with a studious gaze directed at it. It seemed as if he saw something in each ingredient that was teaching him something. Adele was sitting beside Ella and they were both eating in a content silence. Ada and I were sitting beside each other, eating quietly as well. However, my sense of excitement that had surfaced after having met the group seemed to have diminished my appetite considerably. I wanted to simply teleport the food into my stomach.

"It is very interesting, the history of the cultivation of tomatoes," uttered Albert amid the silence. "To think that the viruses that used to afflict them have been transformed to benefit the plants, rather than harm them."

I furtively glanced at him to see that he was studying the halved cherry tomato with an intense gaze. I was mostly ignorant about plant viruses, so I didn't join him in his spell of interest.

"Perhaps, I can teach all of you about the history of humanity's discovery and gradual understanding of viruses," he suggested with a serious tone.

I saw his serious, expectant gaze look over everyone and I averted my gaze before his eyes could meet mine.

"The history of viruses, huh?" Inquired Sophie, who was eating alone at a table beside the large window.

The skies were seen to be clearer through them, although the sunlight was yet soft and not too bright.

"Indeed, Ms. Murell," replied Albert. "You will be surprised by how rich the history is."

"I'm interested," said Bryan suddenly.

"Good, good. I have much to teach," said Mr. Wester with evident delight. "But you'll have to stick with this journey of discovery from beginning to end."

"Alright, but you'll have to understand that I was an anthropologist by trade," said Mr. Rost matter-of-factly. "You'll have to put the heavy weapons in reserve."

"I will try my best," said Albert with a monotone voice. "We have until Zero Dawn in this undertaking. What do you say we begin with the history of the gradual understanding of the smallest units of matter, then work our way from there?"

"Um, yeah, sure. So, you mean atoms, right?" Asked Bryan.

"Yes, and what's interesting is that the word _atom_ came from the Ancient Greek _atomos,_ which meant indivisible," said Albert.

"Ah, now that's interesting," said Bryan, nodding his head with a smile. Albert smiled with him, happy to have roused his interest.

"Mr. Wester," Ella lightheartedly said. "Still set to professor mode, aren't you?"

"Indeed. There is much to be learned, " he replied with an eager voice. "There is a saying attributed to my professor; he had said 'if one were to dedicate the time to learning everything that there is to know about the process by which the various plants bear fruit and show their full array of colors in early spring, then the leaves will have already begun to fall with the onset of a winter a decade later."

"Ah, a decade later," said Bryan. "If learning takes such a long time, I'm already discouraged before I even embarked on the journey."

"Don't be so, Mr. Rost," replied Albert. "With every bit of knowledge gained, the world is seen as if in another light."

"Is that right?" Bryan asked.

"Yes, yes. So, do I have in you all a troop of willing pupils, ready to dive into the depths of nature's workings with me?"

A brief silence followed. I was waiting for someone to answer in the affirmative before responding myself.

"Aye!" exclaimed Bryan after the pause, raising his glass of water. A bit of water spilled out of the cup with the sudden gesture.

"Aye," said Hannah.

"Aye aye, captain," said Ella.

"I'm already enrolled," said Adele with a smile.

"Aye," I eagerly said, smiling too.

"Aye," said Ada, laughing.

Sophie merely raised her hand in the background with a smirk.

"Very well," said Mr. Wester with a satisfied smile, his fingertips on one hand pressed against the fingertips on the other. "We shall require no formal structure in this endeavor. There will be no exams or the like."

Then, the waiter-bot approached our table.

"Were you calling for me, sirs and madams?" Its nametag read Aya.

–—–

Nearly half an hour after we had finished eating, we were exiting our cars in the small lot before one of the trails. It was called Hawksbill Trail and it led to the highest lookout point in the park. We had decided to take only two cars with us. Ella, Adele, Ada, and I had ridden in Ada's car and the rest had went in Sophie's. Sophie's car was the green one with the "my daughter is an environmentalist" sticker.

"One water bottle for every pair, no more and no less," commanded Sophie once we had all got out of our cars.

We all did as she said. Ada and I brought a bottle of water for both of us. I hoped that my saliva wouldn't all of a sudden become fatally poisonous or worse yet, simply disgusting. I had brushed my teeth thoroughly this morning, though. Nicole never had an issue with my saliva and neither had I to hers.

"I'll drink directly from the bottle, and you'll waterfall, okay?" I jokingly suggested.

"No, what about you get no water at all, and I keep it all for myself," she joked back.

"Okay, I'll do the waterfalling then," I said.

"Just drink directly from the bottle, geez. Do you have a deadly virus in your saliva or something?" She inquired lightheartedly. Albert looked back at us momentarily with her mentioning the word _virus._

"I might," I said. She smiled.

"You're afraid of getting a little saliva in your mouth, Michael?" Asked Ella from behind us.

She walked up beside me. I chuckled at her insinuation. She was a bit taller than me, maybe half a foot or so. We were all then making our way onto the trail, which led into the forest. The path, which was a mixture of dirt and fine gravel, was wet, but not muddy. Golden sun rays pierced the green canopy above at an angle. The air was cool and refreshing as it had been the whole morning. Ella put her arms around my waist as if I were her lover. She had a friendly, energetic spirit and I appreciated it greatly during those times.

"It would suck if you have a phobia for saliva because you and I are gonna be having a lot of tongue action," she joked, pulling my waist closer to hers as if I were her girlfriend.

I wished that I were bigger, so that I wouldn't be so prone to such friendly teasing by girls that were physically larger than me. I no longer had Nicole to keep such playful personalities away. Only she had been the one that could touch me in the way that Ella was holding me. Of course, Ella had no interest in me. She was just by nature playful and energetic.

I was glad to have a friend in Ella, one who was so candid and vibrant in her behavior. The apocalypse, the seclusion of the park, and the smallness of our group had a way of making us behave so warmly toward each other. Add to that the fact that we all seemed to have a mutual affinity for each other. No one was selfish or inconsiderate of the other, a quality that my time with Nicole had ingrained in me.

"Sorry, but I'm a prude," I joked lightheartedly. "No tongue action for me."

"A prude? I like prudish people. They make great girlfriend material," she said, kissing the top of my head condescendingly.

We were merely bantering in a silly way; there was no romantic liking or anything of that kind between the two of us. It was evidently in her personality to be so vibrant and friendly. It served to lift my spirit.

"Girlfriend? You must've mistaken me for someone else," I quipped.

"You do have a cute, androgynous face, so you can be my girlfriend," she replied. Ada and Adele laughed. "I used to like this girl from France that looked almost like you."

My cheeks must've become red, but I'd been told that I had a cute face by past friends. Initially, I hadn't known whether to be offended by it or not, but it had pleased Nicole and I had been satisfied with that alone. Sometimes I worried that if I had looked any different than I did, Nicole might've not taken a liking to me as she had when we had been together. I had never told her about that fear of mine, but it sometimes struck me in late hours.

I smiled at Ella's remark on my appearance and pretended to possess an exaggerated feminine gait. I was feeling just as playful and enjoyed the silly banter.

"Mmm, Michelle. Let me put you in heels, then you can walk like that for me," Ella joked, making a humorous show of biting her lips. We all laughed.

We walked side by side for a while in silence, admiring the quiet forest enveloping us as we walked. We spotted a couple of white-tailed deer about twenty feet to the right of the trail. They simply continued to graze nonchalantly as if we were a normal sight for them. I glanced at Ada and saw that she was immersed in a conversation with Adele. Ella had removed her hand from my waist and had put it around my shoulders. Sophie and Albert were conversing together as well. Hannah and Bryan were walking hand in hand and occasionally shared a kiss. I will admit that seeing them kiss in front of me sparked a desire for such intimacy again. That time, I felt my longing for Ada resurface, and it would be that way from then on. It would continue to grow over the ensuing days and weeks.

–—–

After a while of walking along the trail amid the pleasant and beautiful forest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we arrived at the summit. Thankfully, the sun was partly obscured by a thin layer of cloud to reduce the heat of its brightness. We stopped before the large rocks that lined the edge of the summit, looking over the eastern expanse laid out before us up to the Massanutten Mountain ridge. Ada and I stopped to drink water. First, she took a sip from the bottle. Enchantment has a way of making one more audacious in stealing a glance at the object of one's infatuation and so it was for me then. As she drank from the bottle in front of me, I furtively eyed her rosy lips for a moment, a mere second. They were wetted by the clear water. I was suddenly smitten by the beauty of her face as a whole, framed by her dark-brown hair.

I wondered if Cupid had been hiding in the foliage of one of the nearby trees and when she had been drinking from the bottle, had pierced me right in my heart with one of his poison-tipped arrows. At the time, I didn't believe that I was pierced yet; my heart still went about dodging and ducking as if I were yet to be hit by Cupid's poisoned arrow. However, the winged harbinger of passion must've been laughing all along at my silly attempts to avoid what had already seized me. The winged child wasn't one to tolerate obstinacy in his subjects.

I continued to steal momentary glances at her lovely face, her rosy lips, wishing to be transported away from life, from sorrow, by a kiss from her. I couldn't even remember what a loving kiss felt like; it had been nearly two years since Nicole and I had shared one. It was partly the despair brought by that weakening memory of what Nicole's lips had felt like on mine that fueled my sudden bout of longing on the summit. Yes, it might seem strange that I wanted a kiss from her, that lovely angel who I had just met yesterday, yet it wasn't exactly true that my passion for her had only developed in one day; my love for Nicole had been unconsciously imprinted upon her. However, she wasn't entirely alike Nicole. There were more than a few subtle differences, otherwise I would've been wondering about the possibility of cloning being responsible for a one-hundred-percent likeness. It was her resemblance to my best friend that made me prone to the stings of passion despite my habitual avoidance of such emotions.

My longing for her grew with each subtle sparkle that glistened on the wet vermilion of her bow-shaped mouth as the cold water coated its rosiness. Who would've thought that a being could envy water, an inanimate fluid? Yet there I stood, wishing that I could meet her lips with mine as freely as that stream of water did. And her face! Her eyes! Her ruddy cheeks. If only she wanted me. Nicole had loved me, but I didn't believe that Ada would ever see me in that way. I cursed the world, nature for their tormenting me so. In the blurry background, I faintly perceived the enveloping green of the forest, which framed her lovely complexion.

 _God, why am I feeling this way now?_ I wondered. _Why does she have to look like her? Is this a blessing or a curse? It has to be a curse. Stop this. This isn't right._

When she finished drinking from the bottle, she handed it to me, and I acted cool and composed as if I weren't presently Cupid's puppet, as if I were not obliged to him by the arrow that he had shot into me.

"You look thirsty," she plainly said. "Here. There's no saliva on it, see."

As if that would be an obstacle to me. I would drink from the bottle even if it were empty to feel with my lips where hers had been. Such was the effect of the sudden onset of that passion.

"I hope there isn't," I joked. I then drank from the bottle, making sure to drink slowly.

She watched me with a smile, which inflamed my heart. Perhaps the burning of my heart would turn that poisoned arrow into ashes and so, relieve me of this unease. After a few seconds of drinking, I released the bottle's opening from my lips.

"See, you're still alive. No saliva at all, right?" She sweetly quipped.

She patted my shoulder lightly, looked at me one more time, then went to join Ella and Adele at the edge of the summit upon the rocks. When she was no longer looking at me, I pressed the bottle's opening to my mouth again as if I could feel her lips by doing so; at least the ghost of it. Anything to remind my lips of that sensation of old, which had been a daily occurrence in the past before Nicole had left for Belgium. Yes, I might've lost it then, but those who accuse me so haven't felt my teetering grief and passion, haven't known a being as wonderful as Nicole or Ada. I closed my eyes, unashamed, thinking that this would be the closest I would ever get to her rosy lips on mine, despairing. If that bottle could feel and think, it would've thought that I was in love with it. I believed that I would never know a loving kiss again. While I drank the water as an excuse to linger my lips upon the same spot where Ada's lips had been, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. It was Sophie.

"You're thirsty, aren't you?" She inquired with a smile. "At the rate that you've got going, you won't have any more for the return trip."

"Oh, yeah. It's just a…condition that I have. I need to keep my lips wet," I lied with a serious tone, looking nonchalantly over the wide landscape.

"Ah, I see," she said, digging into one of her pockets. "I have an extra tube of lip balm; you can have it. I think I have the same condition as you."

I smiled gratefully as if I really had a condition relating to dry lips.

"Thanks, Ms. Murell," I politely said. She gave a friendly squeeze to my shoulder and a kindly smile.

"Feel free to call me Sophie," she said. "We're all equals here."

She gave another smile, then went to join Albert who was walking along the summit's edge. My deep-seated appreciation for her kindness momentarily eclipsed my passion for Ada, but only momentarily. Cupid or Eros, however one calls that playful being (Cupid being the Roman version of the Greek Eros), wasn't one to let any opposing emotion gain the upper hand over his carefully concocted potion of passionate longing.

As I stood ten feet or so behind the rest of the group, all of whom were standing near the edge, gazing over the landscape, I briefly gazed at Ada's beautiful figure from behind. Her body was silhouetted against the western horizon and I briefly imagined that she were a figure in a landscape painting of old. Her dark brown hair looked to be more fragrant than any flower that I've spotted along the trail. Her creamy skin seemed so heavenly.

 _What am I doing?_ I thought. _Why do I let myself burn like a sucker?_

I knew that I wasn't one to let passion control me, but I did not know what had overcome me then upon that summit.

 _Maybe it's the elevation,_ I reasoned. _The air must be much thinner up here. Or maybe I'm just in need of someone. Yeah, that's it._

After recovering from that spell of immobility, I walked toward Ada and the rest of the group. As I neared her, she suddenly turned around as if to see where I had been the whole time.

"Come on, Michael," she said with a smile. "Look at the view."

"I'm almost there," I said lightheartedly, suddenly overcome by the desire to put every word of mine that would be directed to her through various filters, which would determine if they had the potential to turn her away from me.

When I made it beside her, I will admit that I managed to free my heart from its passion for a while to take in the vastness of that quiet landscape that showed before me. If there is anything that can compete with infatuation, it is vastness, grandness, terror, astonishment, and the likes. For a minute or so, I appreciated that prospect with a calm mind and a still heart. It was when I saw Ada in the corner of my eye while sweeping my gaze to the right that my longing for her revived. Not even the mountain ridge, which stretched from north to south for as far as I could see, could save me from that unwelcome emotion.

–—–

After about thirty minutes or so of hanging out on the summit, Sophie decided that we should head back to our cars and find another trail to hike. As we walked back along the quiet path enveloped by the forest, I resolved to talk to Albert in the hopes that his monotone, unimpassioned voice would sooth my burning heart. I made sure not to glance at Ada, who walked slightly ahead of us, in an effort to smother my passion by denying it it's object. We conversed about the intersection of cell biology and virology while I feigned an interest that I would usually have for the subject in less passionate circumstances. I even made an attempt to quicken my pace to walk ahead of Ada and Albert followed suit amid a pause in his lecture. However, to my delight and shock, Ada grabbed my right arm above my elbow and brought me beside her. That simple act of hers would've made me faint with joy if it hadn't been for the coolness of the air, which kept me in my senses.

"Hey, Ada," I coolly said. My heart wanted me to quicken my breathing.

"Hey," she said, looking at me with a beautiful expression. "I'm liking this place so far."

"Yeah, me too," I said.

"Good thing you recommended that we come here," she said. My heart seemed to be dancing in delight at her words.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," I replied, reflecting on Nicole in an effort to quell my sudden enchantment with Ada.

–—–

For the remainder of the day until about 4:30 in the afternoon, our little group went from trail to trail, resting at about one o'clock in the abandoned Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center to escape the midday heat. In the visitor center, I had much fun conversing and joking with each person, but I had devoted my greatest effort in talking to Ada. To my relief, she seemed to still have a liking for me despite the diversions offered by the others in the group. Whenever, I would wander off alone to quench my burning heart, she would join me to my immeasurable delight. While walking in another trail after the break at the visitor center, Ada and I had sat beside each other on a rock. While sitting, I had lingered my eyes on her lovely face for a second too long unawares. She had been aware of it and I sorely hoped that she hadn't seen my passion in my eyes. She had simply smiled at me in a knowing manner as if she had seen something in that lingering gaze of mine.

She was just so beautiful. There was just something in the way Nicole and Ada looked that attracted me so. I hoped that whatever was in my appearance that had made Nicole love me so for many years would work the same on Ada. I hoped and hoped and despaired during our time hiking and walking. She was so lovely. Her lips. Her dark blue eyes. Her hair. If only I could be the bottle in her hands or the thistle-colored shirt that hugged her form. In an unimpassioned frame of mind, these words of mine, which represent my jumbled thoughts, would seem unimaginably stupid and empty. However, one who has felt what I was feeling would understand my feeble attempts at conveying the effect of that passionate longing on my heart and mind. I was so confused.

–—–

At around five o'clock, we were all back in the larger of the two buildings at Skyland Resort, which had the dining room. The four of us, that is Ella, Adele, Ada, and I, were relaxing in the lounge again where we had been talking earlier in the morning during the rain and thunder. Ada was sitting right beside me on the couch, but I wished that she was closer. From the first trail to then, my heart burned and continued to burn. I didn't know what to do. It was then that I remembered meditation and I used it as a last resort. I sobered myself with solemn thoughts, my frightened sister, the dead man in the antique shop, the raging battle near D.C., and lastly, Nicole. Thankfully, such grave thoughts stilled my heart and mind. I felt a sense of shame growing within me. I gave an inaudible sigh of relief. We were all four silent for some time, tired after the long day. Suddenly, Ada spoke to me amid the silence.

"We still have to go back to Front Royal to get our stuff," she said.

I looked at her and was glad that her beauty no longer haunted me for the time being.

"Yeah, I almost forgot," I said with an even voice. "Do you want to go today?"

"Yeah, all my belongings are at the inn," she replied, her left elbow resting on the top of the couch and her head resting on her left hand.

"I can go alone and get everything," I offered.

She looked at me for a moment with a tinge of a smile and kindly eyes. I briefly averted my gaze when I felt my heart flutter, but it didn't transform into another fire. I was too sobered by my memory of Nicole. I mentally scolded myself for being so negligent of her memory.

"You're not synced with my car, though," she said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, we should stick together, remember?"

My heart rose again at her words.

"I'll be fine, it's just back and forth," I evenly said, not wanting to give any indication that I didn't want to be separated from her. "It's easy to sync me, isn't it?"

"I'll just go with you. You're only a blue belt," she joked sweetly. I chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess it would be bad to have your car driven by a blue belt," I quipped. She smiled.

"We should go now, before it gets dark," she said. I nodded and rose from my seat. Ada did so too. At this time of the year, sunset came around 6:00 and night about an hour and a half later. I checked my Focus and learned that it was then 5:21.

"Alright, I'm ready," I said.

"Where you guys going?" Asked Ella. Adele watched us with a curious gaze.

"We have to get our luggage from Front Royal," Ada replied. "We'll be back."

"Can we go?" Adele asked.

"It's an hour's drive, though," said Ada. "You still wanna go?"

"Yeah, of course. We can't have our new friends slipping away under the pretense that they're getting their 'luggage,'" she joked. Ada and I chuckled.

"Let's go then," said Ada.

With that, we went to inform Sophie of our plan. She seemed wary at first but was reassured by the fact that Ella and Adele, who had been there for a few weeks, were going along with us. She reminded us not to tell a soul, not even a bot, about our little resort. A part of keeping that secret was agreeing to the stipulation that we couldn't leave the resort permanently. Neither of us wanted to leave, anyway; I couldn't think of a better place beside Colorado to be staying in for the duration of the war. After that, we then exited the building to make our way to Ada's car in the lot. Soon, we were driving along Skyland Drive on our way to Front Royal.

I couldn't imagine better people to endure the apocalypse with. I thought so rather sentimentally as we all laughed at Ada's sudden cry of surprise at nearly crashing into a black bear, which suddenly appeared from around the corner of the other end of Mary's Rock Tunnel along Skyland Drive. The car had nearly exited the short tunnel, but suddenly stopped when the bear casually strolled across the road at the end.

"Do you think we can just cancel our rooms at the inn over the phone?" Ada asked of me after we were all done teasing her for having been so startled by the bear.

"I don't know, I'll call them," I said, fishing my Focus out of my pocket.

When I went to search for Cloud-Nine inn's number on the web, I received only a static, white screen with the following showing on it:

I WILL BRING LOCUSTS INTO YOUR COUNTRY TOMORROW. THEY WILL COVER THE FACE OF THE GROUND SO THAT IT CANNOT BE SEEN. THEY WILL DEVOUR WHAT LITTLE YOU HAVE LEFT AFTER THE HAIL, INCLUDING EVERY TREE THAT IS GROWING IN YOUR FIELDS. THEY WILL FILL YOUR HOUSES AND THOSE OF ALL YOUR OFFICIALS AND ALL THE EGYPTIANS, SOMETHING NEITHER YOUR FATHERS NOR YOUR FOREFATHERS HAVE EVER SEEN FROM THE DAY THEY SETTLED IN THIS LAND TILL NOW. EXODUS 10:3-6

There were no links on the plain page at all and I couldn't back out of it. After reading the passage, I read it again and once more. After a minute or so of refreshing the page, I took my Focus off and put it back in my pocket.

"So, did you find out?" Ada asked.

"I think the web is hacked or something. My browser is frozen on a weird page," I explained, a little worried.

A brief silence followed. I saw Ada fish out her Focus and put it on.

"What the hell," she whispered.

"What is it?" Ella asked, leaning forward.

She turned on the display on her dashboard and opened the web browser, but it showed the same eerie passage.

"What the…" said Ella and Adele in unison.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: The Cyan Pill**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/26/65: Evening**

We had spent much of the hour-long drive scaring each other over the message. The eeriness of it had been increased when we had driven by a tall, digital billboard beside the empty roads. It had shown a blank white screen with the same passage in the same black letters. It had made us quiet for a while. Afterward, we had diverted our nervous minds by talking about various things, all of which served to familiarize ourselves with each other more.

When we had arrived at Front Royal, it was already twilight. The time on the dashboard read 6:34. The inn's parking lot had the same three cars parked there in the same spots that they had been in before Ada and I had walked to the library. Shortly, we got out of the car and headed for the front entrance. The air was cool and pleasant in preparation for nightfall.

"So," said Ella, who was walking beside me. "We should be expecting locusts tomorrow."

Adele and Ada, who were walking a little ahead of us, kept silent.

"I'd prefer locusts to the bots," I said, looking at the twilight sky.

"Yeah," She said with a low voice. "Locusts aren't as terrifying."

"Are you guys still scared?" Asked Adele, who looked back at us. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"I am a little," said Ada.

"Me too," I said

"I'm not," said Ella. "It's just some hackers having a field day. Don't be scared."

Adele and Ella exchanged sweet smiles, which showed that they were grateful to have each other.

We went through the automatic door and stepped onto the marble-tiled floor of the inn. The receptionist-bot greeted us.

"Good evening," it said to us.

"Hey, Ann. We're just here to check out of our rooms," Ada said to it.

"Okay. Will you be needing a porter?"

"No," said Ada. "We don't have much."

"What did you guys bring?" Adele asked.

"Only maybe four bags altogether," Ada replied.

We continued walking and passed the empty lobby.

"We're you guys in a rush to evacuate?" Adele asked.

"Yeah," Ada said. "It wasn't like the swarm was right behind us though."

"Both of you guys lived in Alexandria?"

"I did," Ada replied.

"I lived in Gloucester," I said.

"Really?" Ella asked, intrigued. We stopped before the lounge, from which the muted sound of a TV could be heard. "Beside Chesapeake Bay?"

"Yes, right beside the water."

"Wow. You had to have seen the fighting," Ella said.

"I didn't see it up close. Just the flashes of battle in the horizon at like four o'clock in the morning."

"Oh my God," Ella said with a tinge of surprise. "That must've been terrifying."

"It was," I said, looking pensively at one of the couches in the lobby. "It was like a dream."

Adele and Ada had been listening, interested in what I had to say. We simply huddled together for a moment in silence. Then, we heard a woman's voice come from the lounge, which was adjacent to the larger lobby.

"Wait. Did I hear that right?" Asked the lady, the same middle-aged woman that had been sitting with her husband in the lounge when Ada and I had first arrived at the inn. "You saw the fighting?"

She had risen from her chair to approach us while her husband remained seated, his eyes glued on the TV hanging on the far wall of the lounge. He cast a brief, backward glance at us, uninterested.

"Not up close," I replied. She stopped beside our huddle with surprised, weary eyes.

"What did you see?" She asked.

"I didn't see the ships and bots themselves. I just saw the flashes over the Atlantic at night."

"Ah, I see. Did you see the military over there?" She asked. "Are they looking strong?"

"I was in awe the whole time I was there because there were tanks and planes everywhere," I said, trying to convey my awe.

"Great, that's good to hear. My brother's fighting over there, with the USRC. He's a little too old to be soldiering, but he wanted the money," she said, smiling politely and shaking her head once. "As if his job in the real meat industry wasn't lucrative enough."

We looked at her with sympathetic attention. She gave us a polite smile.

"I'm guessing he's a veteran," Ella said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, he is," said the lady. "He had fought in one of the last human-against-human wars about thirty years back."

"Maybe he missed the action," Adele said.

"Missed jumping in front of bullets? No, he had shunned that mindset long ago. He reenlisted for the money, and the benefits. He'll be able to send all his children to college after the war if the government sticks with their end of the deal."

"My dad told me about those benefits," I casually said. "They drew him back in too."

"Which branch is he in?" She asked, curious.

"The Air Force," I replied.

"Oh, is he a pilot?"

"I think he's working in operations security now with the Air Force," I said.

"Operations security?" She said. "That's strange. Do you know what his job is?"

"He didn't tell me much," I said. "I'm not even sure if he took up that job offer. He might've just reenlisted as an officer. All I know is that he went to Colorado for something related to the military."

"Ah, he's safe there at least…So, what about you guys," she said, looking at the three young women. "Any of your moms or dads in the military?"

"My dad's back in the Air Force too," Ada said.

Adele and Ella remained silent, and I assumed that Adele didn't want to mention her father, who had succumbed to the swarm in the United Kingdom.

"What's his job now?" The lady asked.

"He's with the Air Mobility Command. He's probably working as an officer again," Ada replied.

"And you two?" She said, addressing Adele and Ella.

"No, my mom and dad aren't the military type," Ella said with a polite smile.

"Mine aren't either," said Adele with a neutral expression.

The three of us furtively glanced at her with sympathy. We remembered that she had told us that her father had died somewhere in the United Kingdom. Evidently, Adele didn't want to bring up her father again. Maybe doing so would spark a sorrow that she wished to avoid.

Suddenly, the lady directed her attention to the news on the TV. She gave us a polite smile, then returned to her seat beside her husband.

After our eyes had finished following the lady as she returned to her chair, we looked at the breaking news that was showing on the TV. The headline read "The Battle for Washington, D.C."

We watched the news for a while in unison, silent. A live feed showing the twilight battle in the distance captivated us. I saw tracer rounds rain down from multiple points in the sky over what I assumed to be D.C. I saw streams of tracer rounds shoot into the sky as well as if battling with their unseen adversaries in the sky. The flashes of battle supplemented the whole scene. All that amid the voice of the reporter, which was always unsettling.

After a while, we turned away from the TV and briefly glanced at each other. We remained huddled together in silence for some time, our eyes downcast. Ada and I had been at D.C. just yesterday. We had made it as far as the inner end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. I wondered if the sentry that we had met there was okay. I wondered if she was presently fighting against the swarm.

In our silence, I looked back up at the news report again. The tracers continued to rain down from the darkening sky and they continued to be answered by those from the ground. Occasionally, a large explosion could be seen, which was evident by the large flash of light that would show over the cityscape. As I watched, I saw a large formation of fighter jets speed over and to the left of the camera feed. The roaring sound of the jets, slightly muted by the lowered volume of the TV, as they sped in unison toward the scene of battle widened my eyes. I felt my breathing quicken a bit. Ella, Adele, and Ada turned their eyes to the TV again at the sound.

"You guys were just there yesterday?" Asked Ella, her eyes glued onto the screen.

"Yeah," said Ada, averting her gaze from the screen again. "It was fine when we were there."

A brief silence followed.

"We'll get our stuff now," she said.

I tacitly complied and followed her to the elevators. Adele and Ella followed behind, but Ada told them that we could manage what little we had.

"We'll be in the lobby," said Ella.

"Alright," Ada and I said.

Soon, we were on the elevators. I saw on the digital poster the same advertisement for Shenandoah National Park that gave info on the Miri-Tec black bears there.

"Michael," said Ada as the elevator door opened to our floor.

"Yeah?"

"Does it bother you that the swarm's already at the capital?"

I considered her question for a moment.

"It does," I said. "What about you?"

"Yeah. I mean, we were just there yesterday evening," she said with a low voice as we walked toward our rooms.

"I don't think that they're getting past D.C., though," I reassured her. She kept silent for a while.

Shortly, we arrived outside our rooms. Ada stopped as if to talk to me, but she simply leaned her right shoulder against her door in deep thought.

"We're safe here, Ada," I meekly assured her. She continued pondering, her eyes downcast.

After the silent pause, she gave a low sigh. It weighed my heart; it was a raw show of emotion. I felt ashamed at having been so inflamed for her earlier when there were more pressing matters at hand.

"They crossed Delmarva, they crossed the Chesapeake, and now, they're in D.C. All in one day," she said.

I remained leaning against my door in silence.

"I think you're right, though," she said, looking at me with a pensive gaze. "They're not gonna get past D.C."

I nodded in agreement. We cast our eyes downward again and shared a brief silence.

"There's a million armies between there and here, anyway," she said with a low voice, still looking at the carpet with her arms crossed.

I quickly glanced up at her, disturbed by the fact that she had used a phrase similar to the one that I had used to reassure Nicole a few months ago.

 _There are a billion armies between southeast Asia and Belgium,_ I had told her over the Focus on that snowy, December night.

"Make that a trillion," I said to ease my worry.

"Times a trillion," she quipped with a small smile, although I had been serious.

I smiled back at her, then lowered my eyes again in thought. Another short silence followed.

"Let's get our bags now," she said.

"Yeah."

We both turned to our doors. Once I entered my room, I gathered my luggage and box of food and placed them beside the door. Then, I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment in thought. I looked around, finding company in the stillness of the inanimate objects about me. I rested my eyes on the body of the lamp, which had been made in the form of a tree trunk, on the desk in front of me. After some time of immersing myself in that enveloping quietness, I headed to the restroom.

Once I entered, I turned on the light, and stood before the mirror, looking at myself. I studied my face in the mirror with a plain expression. I couldn't see any hint of sorrow in my features, although I knew it was right under my skin. After a little while, I noticed a faint mark on the left side of my neck. I leaned over the sink to see it more closely. I turned my head to the right and studied it for a moment.

Not a second passed before I remembered the cause of the old scar. It was from when Nicole and I had been walking in a wood to go on a small adventure when we had just graduated from middle school. I had scraped my neck after tripping and falling and she had taken me to her house afterward to bandage it for me. I remembered having been so moved by her desire to care for my scrape that I had resolved to never let my love for her wane.

For some reason, the sudden memory seemed to pain me more than any that I've had so far. I leaned over the sink with my hands braced on the countertop, preparing myself for the brunt of the emotion. First, I felt my breathing quicken, followed by a feeling of weakness under the unexpected weight of that dense grief. I felt my breathing begin to change. It seemed to be controlled by another force. I briefly looked up at the mirror to see the heavy sorrow that had beset my facial expression. A tangle of random memories flitted through my mind in a split second. It was that instance of seeing my pitiful face as those jumbled memories flitted through that brought me to tears. At first, I tried to weep in a restrained manner, but the power of the emotion was overwhelming. I quietly cried.

I cried for some time, overwhelmed by the unusualness of the events that had occurred in just two days. The stark reality of having my best friend gone for good took hold of me. It was hard to bear that grief, that anguish whenever it came. The juxtaposition of her beautiful, happy face with empty death and nothingness, knowing that the two were closer than I had ever been to her. That was torment.

She was gone. She was gone. She was dead, and I had done nothing to prevent that. She had screamed for me to save her while death closed in on her from all around; I know she had. And what had I done while she had cried my name? I had likely been sitting in my apartment, in the comfort of my chair or bed.

 _I should've killed myself. I should've,_ I thought as I cried. _Who am I to live when she's dead?_

Yet, there I had been at the park earlier today, entertaining a passion for some stranger like a tongue-wagging dog. Yes, she had a not so little resemblance to Nicole, but that didn't excuse my negligence of her memory. I had eyed Ada's face with a pathetic longing when my best friend had suffered not half a year ago. The same best friend that had loved me for fourteen long years. I had loved her and cared for her all those years with as much eagerness, but I hadn't done a thing to save her when she needed me most.

There were planes, but I hadn't stolen one. There were boats, but I hadn't hijacked one. There was an ocean, but I hadn't swum across it. And yet I could let myself be swept away by an instance of mere puppy love as I had been when hiking with my new friends. I'd might as well have been dancing over her grave; dancing and singing. That is if she had even received a burial.

I fished the suicide pill from my pants pocket and gazed at it as I held it in my fingers. My crying began to subside. I eyed the pill, which was in its small, transparent container, as if it were a rare jewel. There I held between my pointer finger and thumb the key to my prison. There was the remedy to the unexpected surges of memory accompanied by grief.

 **—February 7, 2065—**

I was sitting in my car on a cold evening. The light blue numbers on the dashboard read 6:41. I had my right hand raised in the air, hesitating to press my school friend's number on my Focus' display. I needed someone to share my overwhelming anguish with. On the passenger's seat rested an old handgun; an M1911 to be exact.

I doubted that anyone, even my friend, could understand the grief that came with my loss. That friend of mine, who I was then prepared to call, wasn't a particularly close friend; I had only known him since my senior year of high school, the summer before Nicole had moved to Belgium. He had no clue of the bond between me and her just as one couldn't envision the years of the gradual growth of an old conifer, although he had some notion of it.

I then felt an urge to call my mom in the hopes that her knowledge of my strong love for Nicole would make her a better candidate for sympathy. However, I chose to take off my Focus and stuff it in my pocket. No one in the world beside Nicole could sooth me. A gunshot to the head was the next best thing to my afflicted mind.

I picked up the old handgun from the passenger's seat. I eyed it as it lay in my hands. I would shoot myself that night. I had bought it yesterday from a gun store under the pretense that I was an antique handgun enthusiast. The façade had apparently fooled the man working there. I had already done the research on the best way to shoot myself in the head to guarantee a swift death. I felt afraid that I might mess up and somehow confine myself to a wheelchair, unable to attempt to kill myself ever again. That was partly why I studied the gun in my hand for so long.

Besides that, I was trying to reminisce on the good times that I had together with my best friend before she had left in the hopes that I could die with her image in mind. For nearly an hour, I had been watching and listening to old recordings of videos and calls that had her face or voice in them. I was averse to shooting myself while watching one of the videos or listening to one of the calls because I thought that doing so would be sacrilege in a way.

As I remembered her happy face, a tear drop fell on the gun's trigger guard. My vision became blurry as my eyes began to water. That burst of grief was like a blanket that I could hide under to avoid the reality of my loss. It gave me the faint illusion that there was a solution.

With the image of Nicole's face in my mind as vividly as I could make it, I lifted the handgun to my right temple. I adjusted the position of the muzzle, unsure of where to place it. In my indecision, I fished out my Focus again, placed it on my ear, and brought up the web page on how to kill oneself quickly by gun. I was reassured by the fact that the article stated that the right temple was the best placed to aim a handgun. It recommended using a shotgun, but I was against such a messy method.

I carelessly threw my Focus in the cup-holder beside me. I raised the gun to my right temple again, envisioning Nicole's lovely, happy face. I closed my eyes and put my finger on the trigger. I held that position for a while, then lowered the gun again with a long sigh. I needed Nicole's advice.

"Nicole," I uttered with a hushed voice to myself. "Nicole…I hope your somewhere, listening. I need your help."

…

"I love you so much," I said, nearly breaking down again. "I know you knew that. I know it…Remember when we kissed every morning. I remember you would always smile. You knew that I loved you."

I laughed to myself at the memory. I ran my thumb over the texture of the handgun's grip as a child would with the corner of a cherished blanket.

"I loved you…so much," I quietly said with all of my passion as if she were with me. "I still do…I'm so sorry, Nicole. I'm so sorry…I'm sorry."

I stared at the light blue numbers of the digital clock on the dashboard.

"Nicole…I need your help…I need your help…what do I do?" I asked amid the silence. "What should I do? I don't know what to do."

I began to lightly weep again. I shook my head disdainfully. I knew that crying wouldn't do a thing to help me or her. Tears rolled down my cheeks, but I remained relatively composed.

"Nicole…Nicole…I don't know if I want to live anymore…I don't know if I want to live anymore…"

A while later, I chuckled to myself disdainfully.

"How pathetic," I uttered. "I'm fucking dumb."

I just needed to kill myself; lift the gun to my right temple and pull the trigger. My fear of failing in my suicide made me hesitate. There was no camera crew filming me for a sentimental movie. I was there to die. Why couldn't I just die?

 **—Present—**

Suddenly, I heard three light knocks on the door.

"Yeah," I gently said, but loud enough for her to hear. "I'm just…washing my hands."

"Alright," she replied.

I proceed to wipe my drying tears from my face with a towel. I looked over myself in the mirror to see if I still looked like I had been sobbing, but I looked normal then. Nonetheless, I quickly washed my face and dried it with a hand towel. I put the suicide pill back in my pants pocket. Then, I exited the bathroom, paused before the door, and cleared my throat. I took a couple of deep breaths, then went out, bringing my luggage out with me.

"Hey," she said, studying my face.

"Hey," I said, smiling.

Seeing her face revived me a little, but I wouldn't let it inflame me like before. I felt a renewed sense of shame at the thought of entertaining a longing for her.

"I thought you were sleeping for a sec," she joked. I chuckled.

"I nearly did."

Her presence relieved me somewhat of my previous emotion, which was already beginning to diminish. Our conversation in the elevator served to lighten my mood again. If I was to have looked away from her as she spoke, I might've been able to trick myself to some extent into thinking that it was Nicole. It was the softness in her voice that reminded me so. I felt a bit worried then that I had a suicide pill at hand at all times. I wondered if I could trust myself with it. I resolved to keep Nicole's memory in mind to prevent any future feelings for Ada from arising within me again.

–—–

We were all entering Ada's car after putting our luggage in the trunk. Before we had left the inn, the receptionist bot had informed us that it had already checked us out and bid us farewell. It was nearly night, the sky being dark and a few stars showing, and the time on the dashboard read 6:53. Once I opened the passenger's seat door, I suddenly remembered my promise to the old librarian at the local library. I lingered my hand on the car door's handle.

"I almost forgot," I said as I stood outside her car. "Remember I made that promise to the librarian this morning, Ada?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, looking at me with inquiring eyes. "What are you gonna do?"

"I think I'll stay here tonight. I'll tell him tomorrow morning, then drive to the park with my car," I suggested.

"Are you sure? Can't you just call him and tell him?" She asked.

"I don't have his number," I gently replied. "Anyway, I think I should bring my car to the park. I'll do that tomorrow."

"You really want to tell him?" She asked. "I don't think he'll hold any grudges if you don't."

"I'm afraid he'll hunt me down," I joked. Ada smiled lightly. "I'm actually thinking of making some kind of arrangement with him."

"What kind of arrangement?" She casually asked.

"I might tell him that I can volunteer there for a few days each week," I suggested, deciding to do so just then.

"And drive back and forth an hour each time?" She asked with a nonchalant disbelief.

"Yeah," I said with a nod.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ella asked from the backseat, leaning forward to listen.

"He told the local librarian that he would volunteer at the library starting tomorrow," Ada explained. I nodded in confirmation.

"Really? Is she that hot?" Ella asked with a serious face.

" _She's_ a he," I said with a smile. "And an elderly one too."

Ella gave a look of disappointment, which amused me.

"Why do you want to work in a library? The world's ending," she coolly asked.

"Ella! Stop talking like that. The world's not gonna end," Adele suddenly blurted.

"I'm just kidding, Addie," Ella said, grasping Adele's hand as if to reassure her.

"Stop kidding then," Adele sternly said. Ella looked at her submissively.

"Okay, I'll stop."

I was charmed by their behavior toward each other. They seemed to be close friends. It was always a joy for the heart to see such relationships. As far as I knew, Adele was the meek one of the two. Ella was of a vibrant personality as was apparent. If I had Nicole with me during these uncertain and exciting times, I would likely be a mixture of Ella's and Adele's personalities around her. During our time together, she would usually behave in a "dominant" way toward me, especially in public settings like school. When we were younger, I had expressed to her my anger with her being so imperious at times with me, but I eventually had grown to accept and love that dynamic between us. I had grown to realize that she had behaved so out of affection for me.

"I used to work in one, and I like the atmosphere," I nonchalantly replied. "It'll keep me busy till Zero Dawn comes."

"Are there actual books in there?" Ella asked. "Like books with real pages, made of trees?"

"Yes," I said. "It might seem weird, but it's kinda cool."

"That is weird," Ella said. "It's very old-fashioned. Who even reads from a physical book anymore?"

"No one," I lightly quipped. "But there's more to a library than old books."

"Ah, let me guess. It's a place for old people who hate technology, like my mom," Ella joked.

My grandma would usually express her aversion for the present age of technological wonders, which she had never dreamed of as a young woman. She would go on long rants about the dangers that such foundational changes would pose for humanity. Her usual discourse would be about the social disconnection that the age of automation had brought about. She would talk about how young people back then were more socially connected and I would listen to her with wonder.

Another memory arose with my remembrance of my grandma. She used to be a beautiful young woman as she had showed me in an old photo saved on her archaic iPhone. Everyone in my family would tell me that I inherited her appearance when she was young, although I of course didn't appear so feminine as she had been in her halcyon days. I was thought of as the male version of her. I remembered that I had showed Nicole that photo of my grandma as a young woman and joked with her by saying that she might be a closet lesbian. She had told me that she would be a lesbian if I were a girl to my amusement and delight.

"Yes," I agreed with a smile. "But they're also places for 3D printing, laser engraving, and holo-tourism."

"Oh, you mean like HoloVay-K. That's interesting," said Ella.

"Yeah, but it's mainly used for research purposes," I explained.

"Ah, that makes sense."

The sound of aircraft briefly diverted our attention. We all looked toward the darkening sky. We saw nothing uncommon; just the usual sight. It was a group of four VTOLs flying eastward over the town, airlifting large containers. Their formation lights, red and white, blinked as they flew to their destination.

"So…I'll see you guys tomorrow then," I said, preparing to close the car door.

"Wait," Ada said. "Why don't we eat something here first before we leave."

"Oh, yeah. I'm kinda hungry," I kindly said.

"Yeah, me too," Ella said. "You too, Addie?"

"Yes," Adele sweetly said.

"I'll look for a restaurant nearby," Ada said with a small smile.

With that, Ada put on her Focus to look for an eatery and I stood beside her car, admiring the darkening sky. A faint glow still remained to the west, although the east was already dark. I gazed at the moon, which just emerged from a cloud drifting eastward. I looked around, appreciating the silence.

"You guys wanna eat at a hi-bot-chi restaurant?" Ada asked, taking off her Focus.

"Oh, yeah," Ella said. "I love Japanese food."

"Me too," Adele.

"Alright," I said.

"Alright, it's not far from here. Come on," she said to me.

I entered and sat on the passenger's seat. After I closed my door, we headed for the restaurant. I was happy to eat with them before they returned to Skyland Resort. Really, the only reason why I wanted to stay behind was because I wanted to ingest the cyan pill tonight. I was done with this life. I did want to spend time at the library during the war, but at the moment, death was a priority for me. I didn't want to be tormented by my memories any more. I wanted to see if there really was an afterlife in the hopes that I might see Nicole again. If there wasn't, nothingness would be the next best thing.

–—–

After about five minutes or so, we were walking toward the entrance of the semi-fancy hi-bot-chi japan eatery. It was dimly lit inside to my surprise. I could see automated staff within, as the name of the establishment implied, doing nothing but standing. One looked to be cleaning something in the back. Shortly, a bot from within held the door open for us.

"Good evening, guests," it greeted.

"How are you, Ted?" Ella asked.

"I am happy to serve you guys," it replied.

"Are you really?"

"Indeed."

"I hate your name," Ella said. The bot gave no response. We all chuckled at her sudden insult.

We sat at one of the tables, which had the usual wide iron griddle in the center for the chef-bot to cook upon for our entertainment. Soon, we had all ordered our food and watched with amusement as the chef-bot prepared our food. I had ordered hibachi steak, realizing that it would likely be my last meal. I felt determined to ingest that pill tonight at the inn or maybe in my car.

As the bot performed its volcano onion procedure, we all talked about various things. Shortly, we were served our cups of water. At first, I felt reluctant to open myself up to them because I would be dying tonight. However, the merry atmosphere within the dim restaurant and the seclusion of our little group amid the raging apocalypse to the east served to lighten my heart again. I forgot about my resolve to ingest the cyan pill for the time being and immersed myself in the joy of the moment. Ella and I talked about old books and other pleasant topics. Adele and Ada laughed about something that I didn't hear. Then, they both looked at me with amusement.

"What?" I said, oblivious to what they were smiling about.

"You and Ella look so cute together," Adele said lightheartedly. Ella and I chuckled.

"We do, don't we?" Ella quipped. "We both love English and pretty girls. Isn't that right?"

"Mm-hmm," I hummed.

"You just admitted that you're a pretty girl," Ella joked.

"Did I? I guess I'm a pretty girl then," I quipped.

She smiled and ruffled my hair. I smiled widely at the gesture.

"Can I have a kiss?" She asked lightheartedly, tapping her cheek.

"No, I'm celibate," I joked. "Remember?"

"You said you weren't. Anyway, that wouldn't be fair to anyone," she replied.

"How so?" I asked, intrigued.

"I believe that if someone is blessed with good looks, it is selfish for them to be celibate," she said with conviction.

"Really? What if that person wants to be a monk or something?" I replied, amused. Ada chuckled.

"Well, they have to become a monk or nun to relinquish their obligation," she said with an endearing smile.

"I disagree with that notion," I quipped with a smile.

"I mean, you would still have a choice in who you spend your beauty on. You don't have to give it to some dirty hobo under the bridge…or Ted Faro," she said. Adele and Ada chuckled.

"Ted Faro? He's a sexy bitch," I joked. Ella laughed.

"You take that back!" She demanded.

"Yeah. Faro's hideous," Ada added.

"He's a monster," Adele said.

"I know, I know. I hate him too," I said. "What about Elisabet Sobeck?"

"Mm, she's alright. Her hair looks so stiff in the pictures that I've seen, though," Ella said. "It's like she uses super glue for gel."

We all laughed. She wasn't wrong. A moment later, I felt a tinge of unease. My desire to join Nicole in death had come back.

After a few minutes, the chef-bot served us our food and we ate in a contented silence for the most part. Occasionally, we would all talk about something that was on one of our minds and we grew closer in that way. After we had finished eating, we continued to converse. I already felt comfortable with them and it felt like I was hanging out with family friends at some birthday party or a similar, merry gathering. I was thankful for their company and my thankfulness vied with my wish to leave this life forever.

I sifted through my thoughts to determine if I would really go through with it tonight. I rubbed my hand over my pants pocket to feel the bump where the pill's container inside. After a long time of talking and appreciating the silence together, the atmosphere of that restaurant feeling like a pleasant little world detached from reality, Ella suddenly pulled a small, transparent container out of her pocket. It was the same cyan pill that I had. She eyed it as she held it between her fingers for some time, and we all watched her closely.

"Do you guys have this?" Ella asked of us.

A brief silence followed.

"Yeah, it's in my car," Ada said with a somber voice.

"My mom flushed mine down the toilet," Adele plainly said. We all smiled at her words.

"Apparently, the promise of a painless death encourages bravery in battle, or so I heard," she said, continuing to eye the pill. She then looked at me.

"Do you have one, Michael?"

"Yeah, I do. In my pocket," I casually said, fishing it out of my pocket to show them. I quickly put it back in my pocket, afraid that I might somehow lose that key to my prison.

"It's kinda strange, isn't it?" She asked of us. "Instant death in the palm of your hand."

"Ella, why are you talking about the pill?" Adele inquired, looking at Ella with a firm gaze.

"I just remembered it," she replied, putting it back in her pocket. "Sorry, I'm kinda…odd at times."

"I've noticed," I joked, wanting to ease my heart.

"Oh, shut up," she said, ruffling my hair again. We all laughed.

"Ella, we all know your odd," Adele joked.

"Adele! Don't make me go over there," she lightly threatened.

"Oh, yeah. What are you gonna do?" Adele mockingly asked with a smile.

With that, Ella rose from her chair and swiftly walked over to where Adele was sitting. She went behind Adele, wrapped her arms around her waist, and kissed the side of her head in a friendly manner. They were evidently very close to each other. Ada and I laughed at their behavior toward each other.

"That's what I'm going to do," Ella said.

She then returned to her seat beside me. Ada and I were sitting between them.

"So, Michael," Ada said as Ella returned to her chair. "Are you still planning to stay here tonight?"

I pondered for a moment, looking at the chef-bot, which was clearing bits of food and grease from the griddle before us.

"I am," I plainly said.

Regarding my plan to ingest the pill, I was then undecided. My desire to do so had subsided significantly during our time talking with each other in that secluded eatery. They were such wonderful people to be around. I briefly thought that I might find some respite from my periodic grief by spending time with them.

"You really wanna be alone? It's dangerous now," she said matter-of-factly. "It's not the same as before. You know that."

"Yeah," Ella said. "There's a lot of crazy people out there."

Feeling so appreciated by them, and not wanting to be so ungrateful as to kill myself when they were beginning to warm to me, I decided against suicide for the time being. Really, I wanted to spend those uncertain days with them for some time. They were so fun to be around as I had realized that day. However, I still wanted to volunteer at least twice a week at the library, especially to be in a town once in a while. I didn't want to get tired of the park by not giving myself any diversions.

"I'll be fine," I assured them. "I still plan to volunteer at the library once in a while anyway. I'm gonna start tomorrow."

We all seemed to be pondering something in the air before us for some time.

"You know, let's just all stay here," Ella suggested. "I mean, it's only for a day, right?"

"Yeah, just for a few hours tomorrow," I said, delighted by her suggestion.

"Alright," Ada said with a satisfied nod.

"I miss being in a nice town," Adele said. "The ones near the resort are old…and boring."

"Yeah, I agree. I missed the food," Ella said. "Not that Shenandoah's sucks."

"So, mind if we hang out with you, Michael?" Ada asked of me, her head resting on her right hand.

"I don't mind," I replied with a genuine smile. "But what about tomorrow when I'm at the library? It might be boring."

"There's a lot of places to hang out around here," she said. "I might do some reading too, maybe."

"I'm gonna eat at every restaurant at least once," Ella said. "I'll ask Sophie how to eat for free too. She might know a hack or two."

We all chuckled.

"Won't we get in trouble, though?" Ada asked. "The National Robot Guard is hanging around here."

"I mean, we're in an apocalypse. In what apocalyptic movie does anyone pay for food?" Ella asked lightheartedly. "And anyway, Sophie might know how to work around the NRG's presence."

Ada looked to be pondering her words, unsure if she should agree or not. She kept silent.

"Fine, you guys can pay like losers. I will be taking advantage of my displaced person benefits," she said.

I smiled at her reasoning. I still felt governed by a sense of shame, but I would be willing to go so far as to pay a reduced price for my food in the future.

We talked together for a little while more, then left the restaurant. Once we were in the car, we decided that we would stay at Cloud-Nine for the night. Ella was on her Focus, which she hadn't been wearing all day, reading out the names of various eateries nearby. She was excited by the options. To be honest, her excitement for food was making me feel so too. I suddenly looked forward to eating at another restaurant with them tomorrow. For the first time in months, I felt like there was something for me to look forward to.

–—–

When we entered Cloud-Nine again, we heard the muted sounds of arguing coming from the lounge. It was coming from the same middle-aged couple that we had seen earlier. The four of us stood awkwardly before the front desk, waiting for the receptionist bot to give us our rooms.

"Rose, I have to go," said the man with the calmer of the two voices.

"Shut the fuck up, Daniel!" Shouted the lady with a desperate tone. "You don't have to fucking go!"

"Honey, I'm a veteran. I need to go," he implored. "I'll be back right away, Rose. I promise."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it anymore!" She shouted.

A silence followed and the bot gave each of us our keycards to our rooms.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: A Quiet Library in a Quiet Town**

* * *

 **Spring - 3/26/65: Night**

After Ada and I had parked our luggage in the lobby, we all decided to walk around the park behind the inn. The holo-clock behind the front counter read 7:42. Once in the park, we walked on the path amid the soft glow of the lampposts and the cool night air. The moon, sometimes hidden behind passing clouds, was another source of light, albeit subtler than the lampposts. The clouds, illuminated by the moonlight, seemed to be pregnant with rain.

Between these sheets of clouds, the blinking lights of distant aircraft in the dark sky would occasionally attract my attention. They were small reminders of reality, of the ongoing war not sixty miles east. After an hour or so of walking together in that secluded park, having walked all the way around the artificial lake in the middle of it, we returned to the inn through the back entrance. We hadn't seen a single soul all the while. It had been just the four of us in our own little world.

Seeing that the middle-aged couple was no longer in the lobby or lounge, we decided to hang out in the latter, the cozier of the two, and watch the news with the volume lowered to induce sleepiness. Occasionally, we would simply observe silence and stare at the varnished, wooden coffee table before us. It was an intimate experience. Shortly, the sound of pouring rain met our ears. There was something about the sound of rain that made a room seem removed from the world.

We were still wrapping our heads around the sudden change in our lives. In the calm of night, the gravity of one's situation is more palpable. Eventually, the sound of the TV became mere background noise to us. I learned then that Ella and Adele were the kind to welcome a silence without the need to disrupt it. Our quiet, reflective gazes each had a story behind them. I only knew mine for the most part.

"So, what time are you going to the library tomorrow?" Ella casually asked amid the silence, her head resting on her left hand.

"I'll go early, maybe seven or eight," I casually replied. "The librarian's leaving in the afternoon."

"Oh, he's leaving. That makes sense. I thought you wanted to, like, hang out with him," Ella coolly said.

"No way," I said with a smile. "He is nice, though."

"You know, I might try out the holo-tourism there," she said. "I wanna visit Greece with it."

"Yeah, me too," I said, gazing at the saikei between two of the three windows.

"You wanna visit Greece?" Ella asked.

"Yeah, the islands in the Aegean Sea. I want to visit the island of Lesbos," I nonchalantly replied.

"Lesbos? An island of lesbos? Lesbians?" Ella joked. We all chuckled.

"That's the actual name of the island, though," I said with a smile.

"I know, I'm kidding," she said, grinning. "So, you wanna visit Mytilene?"

Mytilene was the capital of Lesbos. The island was right off the west coast of Turkey in the Aegean.

"I do, but in real life," I said. "I don't think VR will never reach the level of reality."

"Yeah, I agree," she plainly replied, gazing introspectively at the coffee table that our chairs were huddled around. "Real life lesbos are better."

I chuckled lightly at her persistent humor. A brief silence followed, each of us in our own thoughts. Ella spoke again after a while.

"You know…it saddens me to think that the settings for the ancient romance stories from Greece, Italy, Persia, and so on are no more…that they're barren wastelands now," she uttered with a low voice to no one in particular. "The pastoral setting on Lesbos where Daphnis and Chloe fell in love two thousand years ago...all gone...unrecognizable."

"Ella, no one wants to hear your depressing thoughts," Adele said with exasperation, looking at the coffee table and crossing her arms.

Ella meekly glanced at her friend and crossed her arms too. Adele continued looking at the table with a tinge of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Addie," Ella gently said. A moment later, Adele gave a sigh.

"No, I'm sorry Ell," Adele said, rising from her seat to sit beside her friend. "I didn't mean to be mean."

They smiled at each other.

"You can't hurt me, Addie. But"—Adele looked at her friend—"I did see you getting a little too…chummy with Ada today," Ella jokingly said.

"Yeah, well, she's cool," Adele quipped, her right arm around Ella's shoulders, playing with Ella's light brown hair. "And she's pretty too."

"I know she is, but don't make me jealous, alright?" Joked Ella with a smile, feigning possessiveness. Ada smiled.

"Don't worry, Ella. I won't take her from you," Ada said, smiling. Adele then looked at her with a lighthearted look of indignation.

"I thought we had something going on between us, Ada!" Adele joked.

"But your friend is against it," Ada jokingly defended.

With that Adele rose from her seat beside Ella and instead of returning to her original chair, sat beside Ada. Ella crossed her arms and gave Adele a feigned look of exasperation. I was amused by their bantering.

We all began to converse heart to heart for a while until the news suddenly diverted our attention. The female reporter was presently discussing with a holo-guest the role of nuclear weapons in countering the incursions into the coastal states. The light purple holo-guest was then shown to be the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Townsend. He was dressed in the relevant attire befitting a general. The headline read "Are Nuclear Weapons Viable?"

"General Townsend, thank you for joining us today," said the reporter.

"Thank you for having me," said the general, his hands clasped before him on some unseen table.

"General, can you tell us about the USRC's plans to incorporate nuclear weapons into its efforts to combat the swarm?"

"Well…simply put, our implementation of nuclear weapons will be severely limited on the mainland. We had come upon this decision after having learned of the devastating environmental effects stemming from the overuse of nuclear weapons in India and Southeast Asia some months ago. We intend to relegate the usage of our nuclear arsenal against the Horus machines themselves because using them against the pawns too often would be like trying to kill every ant in a house instead of killing the queen. And one more thing. The swarm has this ingenious tendency to limit force buildup to close quarters engagements, rarely will they accumulate their elements far from the scenes of battle. This apparent adaptation precludes our ability to use nuclear weapons against them without inflicting massive casualties against our troops."

The female reporter nodded with a professional smile.

"You said that the use of nuclear weapons will be severely limited for environmental reasons. Isn't that a small price to pay in defeating the swarm?" The reporter asked.

"No, not at all. It is no small price at all. If we destroy the environment and make the world uninhabitable in the process, we will have accomplished exactly what we are trying to prevent in fighting the swarm. You have to understand that one of the main reasons for using nuclear weapons, the main reason why they were and still are a part of our arsenal, is to intimidate an adversary, to destroy their morale in a shock and awe strategy. However, these robots that we are fighting aren't like us, as you know. They do not feel; they do not tremble at any show of power; they do not give in to fear. The collateral damage that would stem from that dramatic display of force will have been pointless. We want to use weapons that get the job done without the excessive showiness and after effects that come with nuclear weapons."

"Indeed, General. Going back to your previous statement when you compared using nuclear weapons on the pawns to…"

Before the reporter could finish, Adele yawned, and Ella spoke as if acknowledging it.

"You know what, I'm gonna go take a nice, long shower in my room."

"Me too," I said. I had showered already that morning, but the hike had made me feel in need of another one.

"Yeah," Ada said.

"I'm kinda tired too," Adele casually said.

With that we all rose from our chairs, took one last look at the news on the TV, then headed down the hallway to the elevators, which weren't far. Ada and I pulled our luggage along with us; Ada had only brought one of her luggage cases and I had left my box of food in her car.

As we waited in the elevator, we all leaned against the wall in silence, Adele and Ada on the wall opposite the door and Ella and I on the wall to the left of them. Before we reached our floor, the third, Adele put her right arm around Ada's shoulders while keeping her eyes downcast. A moment later, Ella did the same with me and I smiled at the friendly gesture. We walked in that way toward our rooms, which were right next to each other's. Ella's and Adele's were right across the hall from me and Ada's. We each had our own room. Once we reached our rooms, we stopped outside our doors to talk for a bit before retiring.

"We'll meet in the lobby tomorrow?" Ella nonchalantly asked.

We all agreed, leaning with our backs against our doors.

"By seven or eight?" Ella asked, then looked at me. "You're going to the library at eight, right?"

"Yeah, eight. I'll be up by seven if not earlier," I casually replied.

"Alright, I'll be up early. Goodnight," said Ella. We all said goodnight to each other and went to open our doors.

"Addie, you're sleeping with me, aren't you?" Ella asked with a serious tone.

"Very funny, Ell," Adele quipped, then looked at me and Ada. "I'm out of her league."

We smiled at her remark. Ella put her hands on her hip and affected a look of offense.

"C'mon, Addie. We can save money that way," Ella joked.

"I wanna have my own bed," Adele replied with a smile. She looked at me and Ada with a smile.

"Fine then," Ella lightheartedly said, tapping on her cheek.

Adele went up to her and gave a quick peck on her cheek, then gently pushed her on her shoulder.

"Alright, goodnight again," Ella said. We all said our goodnights once more, then retired into our rooms.

I was instantly greeted by the silence of my room, the same one as before. I turned on the lamp beside the bed. Then, I laid my luggage on the floor to open it and as I kneeled to retrieve the clothes that I would wear after showering, I suddenly smiled to myself. I gave no effort to suppress it. I was happy to have met that friendly group from Skyland Resort. My heart was being showered in cheerfulness as I kneeled on the carpeted floor. I looked at the inanimate objects around me, allowing myself to feel thankful. I revolved in my mind the things that we might do together in the future, the experiences that we would share. I certainly felt as if we would all be together for the duration of the war.

After a while of kneeling before my luggage with my clothes in hand, reflecting on my blessings, I finally rose and headed for the bathroom. I had a calm shower and reflected on things as I stood under the pouring water. Afterward, I dried myself and put on my usual sleepwear. The familiarity of those clothes made me reminisce about normal times in my apartment. The clothes in my luggage were really all that I had to remind me of normal days beside my car. I momentarily regretted not having brought more things with me from my apartment.

 _I should've brought my bonsai,_ I thought. _And all of my old books._

I had only packed two of my antique books in my luggage and left the rest on my bookshelf at home. The two were a 1917 copy of _The Book of the Kindred Sayings_ and a 1956 copy of _Anthology of Japanese Literature._ However, my regret was short-lived because I knew that the loss of my books would pale in comparison to the loss of my best friend.

After brushing my teeth, I fell onto my bed and gazed at the white curtains that covered the window for a while. When my tiredness set in, which came from having hiked for most of the day, I switched off the bedside lamp. To my relief, no painful memories arose in my drifting mind, and I was soon fast asleep.

–—–

In my sleep, I dreamed. It was the same dream that I had experienced yesterday when I had been sleeping in my old room at my parent's house in Alexandria. I was in the same beach all alone, an undertow began to pull me toward the sea and toward the enormous metallic body, which lay motionless in the water, and my resistance against the current was pointless as before. The only difference then was that as the undertow pulled me closer to the metallic body, I perceived the form of a young woman sitting on a dining chair upon it. As I neared the motionless titan, I recognized who it was that was sitting so calmly on the edge of its body. It was Nicole.

As the current pulled me ever closer, I saw that she was gazing at me with a somber expression; she gave no expression of joy at seeing me. My fear of the metallic body diminished at that instant and I made an effort to quicken my approach to her by frantically swimming toward the motionless titan, which she was sitting upon. Once I reached the large body, I braced my hands on the cold metal and looked up at Nicole, who remained seated, looking at me with what seemed to be sympathy. As I lifted myself up on the metal body to meet her, I suddenly woke up.

 **—3/27/65—**

When I opened my eyes to the dimness of my room, I felt myself on the verge of sorrow, but my mind took a detour. An excitement for the day ahead gradually permeated my heart after I awakened. My memory of the vivid dream was already beginning to fade under the influence of that exhilaration. However, feeling that it would somehow be wrong to so hastily sweep away that sorrow, which I thought of as a sort of eulogy delivered by my heart, I let it in, although not the whole of it, for a while as I remained lying on my bed. The holo-clock on the nightstand read 6:35.

It was the uncertainty of Nicole's fate that on one hand increased my sorrow and on the other, tormented me with a vain hope. I remembered spending hours hoping that maybe she was safe somewhere in the world. I hadn't been informed of her death or whatever fate she had met. I only knew that we had last talked to each other over the Focus in late January. Sometimes, I would hope that maybe she and her family were safe in Russia. The last I heard was that the Russian armies were still in the fight. However, sorrow doesn't wait for a confirmation in the case of uncertainty; it relies on probability and there was no doubt in my mind that Nicole had succumbed to the war.

After giving my sorrow the time that it deserved, I let it go for the time being and let my excitement grow. I managed to let it go by telling myself that Nicole and I had a fulfilling fourteen years together and that nothing could destroy that, not even the swarm. That could hold my mind above grief.

I briefly thought about how meeting Ada had suddenly raised my memories of Nicole that I had managed to suppress for weeks. She was on one hand the cause of those disquieting memories and on the other, the antidote. Ada's mature and introspective personality drew me in by its genuineness. I wanted to spend time with her. I wanted to care for someone again. I needed to feel the joys of friendship. For me, friendship wasn't a luxury, but a necessity like water. Ada and our new friends from Skyland Resort filled me with the hope that my longing for warmth would be met.

After some time of thinking in that way, I slowly rose and sat on the edge of my bed. I got up and went to the bathroom. After, I picked out my clothes for the day, choosing plain jeans and a simple, dark blue shirt. I wasn't looking to attract a mate. After I changed into my clothes, I headed into the bathroom again to look over myself in the mirror. I saw my solemn face and studied its features. Those were the features that had been inundated by grief, animated by joy. It showed neither then. For a moment, I looked at the parts of my face that had been touched by Nicole. I diverted my mind, not wanting to appear dispirited to my new friends, who I would be seeing soon.

 _Sorrow won't take me anywhere new,_ I reasoned. _It's either I give it up for now or I kill myself._

With that, I grabbed my luggage and headed out the door. I assumed that we would return to the park after my time at the library. As I waited in the elevator alone, I looked at the digital poster on the wall to the right of the door from my point-of-view, the same that I had seen that morning. It advertised the breakfast options at the inn. I felt a small hunger arise at seeing the foods displayed in the image. It showed pancakes and hash browns.

I then exited the elevator and walked to the lounge. I heard the sound of sobbing as I neared it. Once I turned the corner of the hallway, my luggage rolling quietly behind me, I saw Ella sitting beside the middle-aged lady from yesterday in the lounge with their backs to me. Her husband had called her Rose last night when he was pleading with her. It was just them two. Ella had her right hand on the lady's back as the latter hunched over her knees, sobbing into her hands. Ella looked at me with a somber expression.

"He's so stupid," wept the lady. "That stupid man."

Ella gave a sympathetic rub to the lady's back. We had heard her yelling at her husband, Daniel as she had called him, last night. I wondered if that had something to do with her crying.

"I hate that piece of shit!" Rose cried. "I hate him so goddamn much!"

Wanting to give them privacy, I stealthily made my way to the adjacent lobby, so that the wall separating the lounge from the lobby would hide me from their sight. However, the lady seemed to have heard my luggage rolling along because she suddenly turned and looked at me.

"Wait, you. Did you see him?" She frantically asked me with tears on her cheeks.

"Um, see who?" I gently asked.

"My husband," she said. "The man that was sitting with me yesterday."

"Oh, no I didn't see him," I replied, keeping still.

"Can you believe it?" She said with a mad smile. "My stupid husband left me last night. Snuck out without bothering to tell me."

I knew then that he had probably left to join the USRC as he had said he wanted to last night.

"I'm…I'm sorry," I meekly said. "Where did he go?"

"He went to fight robots! Can you believe it? And he was sleeping beside me last night. When I woke up, he was gone…he just disappeared."

I simply looked at her with sympathy.

"I thought he loved me. I thought he cared for me," she cried. "He wanted to play G.I. Joe like the fucking child he is."

She continued to cry as Ella sat beside her to comfort her. I stood in place for a while longer, then decided to wait in the lobby while she vented her sorrow. Once in the lobby, I parked my luggage beside an armchair, which I sat upon. The TV was on and it was reporting on some act of domestic terrorism in Colorado. The act, which I had yet to learn about, had been perpetrated by the Colorado All-Human Militia against the National Robot Guard. Apparently, there had been a shootout near Colorado Springs. Then, the report showed that 21 had been killed and 17 injured as a result of the confrontation.

After about a quarter of an hour, Ada and Adele joined me in the lobby. We whispered to each other about the middle-aged lady's predicament. We all expressed our sympathies for the lady; we knew what loss felt like. For some time, we discussed whether or not we should join Ella in comforting the lady with our quiet presence alone, but we decided to remain in the lobby. The three of us watched the news for a while until the time on the bottom left corner read 7:08.

As we listened to the lowered volume of the news, which was still reporting on the shootout in Colorado, we heard the sound of someone enter the automatic doors of the entrance.

"Good morning, sir," greeted the receptionist bot to the unseen person.

"Good morning, Ann," said the voice of a man.

The three of us looked toward the front desk and saw the man appear from behind the wall that separated the entrance from the lobby. It was the middle-aged lady's husband, Daniel. He had a nonchalant expression on his face, and he was carrying a bag with the Pancakes Galore logo on it. He gave us a polite nod and continued on toward the elevators. We watched him as he neared the lounge. We briefly glanced at each other with anticipation.

"Whoa, Rose," he exclaimed in surprise. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

We couldn't see his wife in the lounge, but we could see Daniel with his back toward us, Pancakes Galore bag in hand.

"Daniel!" Rose cried. "Daniel!"

Daniel approached his wife.

"Rose, what's going on? You were crying!" He asked with a worried tone.

"Stay the fuck back!" She shouted. "Why am I crying?! Where the fuck did you go?!"

Daniel had stopped and kept still.

"Rose, I left you a message on your nightstand. I went to get breakfast for us," he frantically explained.

"Why didn't you fucking wake me up before you left?!"

"I wanted to surprise you, Rose. Didn't you see the note I left?"

"No, I didn't see your fucking note! I thought you left me to fight those bots!" She cried.

"I would never, _ever_ leave you without your permission, Rose. Never," he said with a quiver to his voice.

 **"Shut your fucking mouth!"** She yelled, then went up to him and embraced him. He hugged her tightly.

"Why would you even think that for a second. How did you not see the note? I left it on the nightstand," he eagerly explained as they hugged. He kissed her head many times.

"What fucking note?" She asked as she pushed away from him.

"I'll show you. C'mon," he excitedly said as if wanting to redeem himself. "Maybe it fell on the ground. But I left one. I promise. I would never leave you like that, honey."

"You better not be lying, goddammit," she said with a seething tone.

"Rose, I promise I left one," he said with a meek posture. "I just went to get you your favorite food from Pancakes Galore. The same that you always get from there."

"Shut up and go to the room," said Rose, looking at her husband with a stern gaze. "And you better have got me French toast with strawberries…and bananas."

"I actually did, honey," said Daniel with a tinge of pride to his voice.

"Good!"

With that, they headed for the elevators. Ella joined us in the lobby, and we all burst out laughing after a few seconds, not wanting the couple to hear us. It came from a mixture of relief from sympathy and amusement.

"So, let's eat at Pancakes Galore before we head to the library?" Ella asked of us.

We all agreed to do so. The mentioning of French toast certainly whetted my appetite. I planned to indulge myself for that morning's breakfast to celebrate what I felt to be the dawn of a new phase of my life, of new friendships. And anyway, who could turn down Pancakes Galore?

"I bet they're gonna fuck later on," Ella remarked as we headed for the entrance. We all chuckled.

–—–

About twenty minutes later, we were sitting in a booth in Pancakes Galore, which wasn't far from the library. Ada and Adele sat together on one side and Ella and I on the other. The news sounded on the TV hanging on the wall as we ate our food, which had recently been served. Most eateries were automated, Pancakes Galore being one of them, but some restaurants wanted to preserve the old-fashioned human staffed kitchen for a more personal dining experience. That was the case for the Japanese restaurant that I had worked at for a few months in Alexandria before getting my job at the library.

"I ordered too much," said Adele, leaning back against the chair, her hand on her stomach.

"Yeah, I did too," Ada said.

I was stuffed too, and I left the last two pancakes untouched. Breakfast eateries never failed to give too much food. Not that I was complaining. The invention of a nanotechnology some time ago that could effectively dispose of or recycle food waste in restaurants prevented any guilt from arising in me for not finishing my meal. As we sat in silence, Adele spoke.

"Ada."

"Yeah?"

"I like your name," Adele said, glancing at her.

"Really? Well, I like yours too," Ada said with a sweet smile.

"You know what's cool. Both of your names come from the same, old Germanic word for noble," Ella said.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that," I said to Ella, who nodded indulgently. " _Adele_ is from the French, right?"

"You're right," she said with another nod.

"What a bunch of nerds," Adele whispered to Ada, loud enough for Ella and I to hear. I smiled.

"C'mon, Addie," Ella said. "That's why you love me."

"Yeah, I know," she sweetly said. Ella returned the smile.

"So, let's go to that library now," Ella suggested, then drank from her cup of water.

"Yeah," we said in near unison.

"Let's work!" Ella exclaimed with a feigned enthusiasm. I laughed.

"If you guys don't want to stay, I won't be offended or anything," I meekly said, not wanting to have them feel obliged to me in any way.

"The library's a nice place," Ada casually said. "And it's only for a few hours, right?"

"Three or four hours," I said. "I'll see what the librarian has for me."

"I should study," Adele said. "I don't want to get rusty."

"Rusty. I like that metaphor. I was supposed to be doing my master's soon. I can't let myself get rusty _,_ " Ella casually said. "And what's even better, there might be some elderly people to keep company here. Old people tend to stay behind during evacuations."

"Do they?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. My mom told me that a lot of elderly people didn't want to leave their homes when the sea levels rose thirty years ago," she replied.

"Oh, that makes sense," I said. "That's kinda sad, losing your home like that."

"It is. I had a teacher who lost her grandma like that," Adele said. "She got caught in a hurricane when the sea level was on the rise."

We all somberly looked at our plates on the table. A minute or so later, the waiter-bot came to take our plates away. We watched as it swiftly gathered everything with its two robotic hands. Then, it headed back to the kitchen.

Afterward, we all rose from our seats and headed out. The morning sky was mild and the air cool. I looked at the clouds in the sky and felt a freedom to do nothing but admire their majestic forms. I saw large, towering cumulus clouds to the east, the direction to which the front of the Pancakes Galore faced. The peacefulness of the town seemed to wash over my heart. As we waited for Ada's car to arrive, Ella suddenly shouted.

"Ella!" said Adele. "What are you doing?!"

"There's no one around," Ella replied. "FUCK YOU, TED FARO, YOU SON OF A WHORE!"

We all laughed uncontrollably.

"You're such a hooligan, Ella," Adele lightheartedly said.

"Let's trash a Faro Automated store, c'mon," Ella eagerly suggested.

"You're gonna get yourself arrested," said Adele.

"By who?" Ella asked.

"The Robot Guard," Adele said. "They're probably looking for you right now for insulting their creator."

"Faro didn't make the NRG's bots," Ella said.

"He made some of their bots I think," I said. "At least the more heavy-duty ones."

"Let me guess, the bots with machine guns for arms," Ada joked.

"Yeah, I think so," I said with a smile. "And machine gun legs too."

Ella chuckled.

"And a rocket launcher penis, don't forget that," Ella quipped. We all laughed.

Shortly, Ada's car drove up to us and we entered it. We then headed for the library. As I watched the sky, I wondered what my responsibilities would be there.

–—–

While the librarian familiarized me with the library and showed me what my duties would be, my friends explored the library on their own. They had already talked to the librarian to satisfy their curiosity. He had learned about their academic interests and had listened to their passions for their respective subjects with wholehearted interest. He was glad to have students like us, especially ones that were passionate learners, to watch over the library while he was gone. He thanked not only me, but the three young women profusely.

First, he showed me how to operate the book scanner and provided me with a list of the books that needed to be archived. That room was toward the back. Then, he showed me where the dust jacket covers were and informed me that some of the books would need to be covered or recovered in new transparent covers on their dust jackets. He showed me my other tasks, all of which were simple, and concluded by saying that I had no obligation to him or the library. Nonetheless, he thanked me profusely and even gifted me with an old, green book before he left. It was a copy of Jules Verne's _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ with an illustration on the cover _._ I thanked him warmly and felt that I was obliged to him by his generous gift.

"It was published in 1932. I've had it since I was your age. I wanted to give it to you," he said with a low voice. "Libraries aren't appreciated the same way they used to be back then."

"Thank you very much, sir"— _this is the coolest book ever_ —"I promise to take care of this place," I eagerly said, thankful for his gift. "So...when will you be returning?"

"Oh, whenever this war ends of course," he warmly replied. "I just have to be with my mother. She's afraid. My little brother, he...he died recently while fighting somewhere in Europe, with the U.S. Robot Command…I'm the only one she has left."

He looked at the carpeted floor as if wrestling with sorrow. I cast my eyes downward too. A moment later, he chuckled lightly.

"You're probably wondering how I could possibly have a mother who's still alive. She's into the whole life-extension treatment," he said with warm smile. "I don't see why anyone would want to do that to themselves. Maybe there's some good to it."

I nodded, holding the old book with both hands, genuinely thankful for it.

"You're against life-extension?" I politely asked, intrigued.

"To a certain extent," he said. "I'm happy that my mother's still alive. It just seems…odd, unnatural. I don't know. What are your thoughts on it?"

"I'm not sure. I'm kind of against it too I guess," I replied. "I think that joy of life is more important than the length."

"Exactly!" He blurted, nodding. "Quality over quantity, as the old saying goes."

I nodded and smiled politely again. After a while of conversing near the front desk, the rest joined us. He gave another round of heartfelt thanks to each of the young women, then went behind the front counter to retrieve something. He returned with three old books, giving one to each of them. Then, he stepped back and looked at us with an expression of admiration and gratitude.

"A library is nothing without eager readers, eager learners. I'm glad that you four will be"—he gestured toward his heart—"the warm heart of this archaic repository; young minds to watch over these old books, these old pages."

He gazed at us with pure gratitude for a moment longer, then bid us farewell and exited.

With that, I placed the old book that he had given to me on the front desk. Ada and Adele sat on chairs before the front desk to admire their own books. Ella rambled around as she admired hers. I pored over the cover of mine and looked through the pages. Some of the pages had foxing, the brown, circular spots of which were a common trait for antique books. I admired it one last time, then left it alone.

With my Focus, I pulled up the list of books in need of digitization and roamed the library to do a cursory search for some of those books. I wanted to determine what I had laid out for me for the coming hours and days. I knew that there wasn't much. As the librarian had said, we would mainly be the warm heart to the library.

I felt a pleasant sense of familiarity while wandering among the shelves. It was like old times after a day at school, working as a library assistant in Gloucester. The smell of the old books soothed my spirit. I didn't love every book in existence, but I loved their collective appearance. There were very few books that I thought worthy of reading and keeping. I loved working in a library not so much for the books, but the secluded atmosphere.

–—–

After I scanned maybe fifteen books and added dust jacket covers to another thirty, I decided to be done for the day. The assistant bot busied itself with dusting the shelves. Only about an hour and a half had passed. The work was simple and peaceful .

My companions had at first busied themselves with exploring the place and were presently studying together at a table in the middle of the library. I had been worried the whole time that they might be bored out of their minds, but they seemed to be immersed in reading and conversing quietly with each other. I was a little concerned that maybe they felt some sort of obligation to accompany me while I maintained the facility, but I was assured by the fact that I wasn't an imposing or self-pitying person. If they wanted to leave, I saw nothing in me that would oblige them to stay. I was self-reliant.

I had even considered what would be the most nonchalant way for me to respond to them if they were to suddenly and bluntly tell me that they were bored and would leave me behind. I expected nothing from them, but I was truly grateful for their company, although I thought that it would be inappropriate to express my gratitude to them. Doing so would only make them feel obliged to me and I was averse to being so inconsiderate as to do such a thing.

 _If they leave, so be it,_ I thought. _I can be alone._

As I went behind the front counter to check off the books from the list on the computer, I heard the automatic doors of the entrance open. I looked up and saw two old women enter. One had gray hair and wore glasses, the other, who was slightly taller, had dark brown hair and more pronounced wrinkles. The latter had an old book in her right hand. They stood upright as if twenty years younger. They looked at me with surprised expressions, then smiled warmly.

"It looks like Elliot found the fountain of youth," said the gray-haired woman. The other laughed heartily.

"Are you the replacement, young man?" Asked the one with brown hair.

"Yes, I am," I politely answered. "I'm guessing Elliot is the librarian?"

They briefly glanced at each other with surprised looks. I looked at them with curiosity. Seeing other people during a catastrophe was always a novelty. It was so because of two things as far as I knew: the natural longing for company and the uncertainty of the moral character of a person in an apocalypse. The two old women seemed benevolent by their demeanor, unlike that man called David, who Ada and I had the misfortune of running into the day before yesterday.

"Yes, that's Elliot," replied the gray-haired lady. "I didn't think you would be so young and handsome. I was expecting someone on the elderly end of the spectrum."

I smiled politely.

"And those young women over there?" Asked the brown-haired lady, gazing curiously at the three. "Friends of yours?"

Ella, Adele, and Ada were looking over at the two women with curiosity from their table. Ella had to turn her head because her chair was facing the opposite direction.

"Oh, yes," I said waving to them.

They waved back and the two women waved as well. Then, the three got up from their chairs and came over to us at the front desk.

"Wow. You're all so pretty," said the brown-haired lady to the three young women. "Grace, are you sure we didn't die and are now among angels?"

"I'm not sure myself, Mary," said the gray-haired lady called Grace. "Maybe our life-extension therapy was in fact euthanasia, a bait-and-switch."

They both laughed at their own humor. The four of us smiled.

"Rest assured that you guys are very much alive," Ella said with a polite smile.

"That's exactly what an angel would say," quipped the brown-haired lady called Mary.

"Okay, you win," Ella joked. The two ladies smiled.

"What are you guys doing so close to the war-zone?" Asked Grace with concern. "You should be further inland. All these young people dying, it saddens my heart."

"We're just waiting for Zero Dawn to come," Ada replied. "For me, I don't wanna be too far from home when the war ends."

"Yeah, me too," Adele said.

"But there's no telling how far the swarm will come," said Grace. "They're already at D.C."

"Grace, do you still believe that the swarm will make it any where near here?" Asked Mary with concern.

"Of course, Mary," Grace gently replied. "This Zero Dawn project or whatever it is had only begun last November. It'll likely be a while, maybe years. You know that."

"These are different times now, Grace," Mary casually reasoned. "Those tiny bots that fly around like puffs of smoke can build dozens of houses in a day. Who's to say Zero Dawn won't come in the next month or even the next few weeks."

"Oh, yeah. And it's those tiny bots that got us into this mess that we're in now," Grace retorted with a shake of her head. "But you're right. We're not in Kansas anymore, to quote _The Wizard of Oz._ I take it that you younger people have no clue what _The Wizard of Oz_ is."

"Um, _The Wizard of Oz?_ " Ada asked.

I've never heard of any wizard of ozz either, but I assumed it to be the name of some actor from long ago.

"C'mon, Ada," Ella joked. "Everyone knows what _The Wizard of Oz_ is."

"Oh, yeah. What is it then?" Ada asked with a smile.

"It's a story," Ella said, glancing at the two old women as if to determine by their looks if she got that part right. "About a wizard…who does certain things…inappropriate things."

"In Oz?" I said.

"Yeah, in Oz. Where else?" Ella said with a serious expression.

"Thanks for enlightening me, Ella," Ada joked.

"Don't mention it," Ella quipped with a dismissive wave of her hand. I smiled.

Grace and Mary chuckled, then studied the four of us for a while with curiosity.

"Well, now we have ourselves new friends," said Mary with a kind smile. "We were afraid that the library would be shut down once Elliot left. We like to read and write here. I'm working on a novel."

We all nodded and smiled politely. I was suddenly interested in what her novel was about, but I would ask her about it later.

"I'll be here if you need any help," I kindly said to them.

"Thank you, young man," said Grace with a warm smile. Mary gave me a smile too.

"So, what are your names?" Asked Mary.

"I'm Michael," I said.

"I'm Ada."

"Ella."

"I'm Adele."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," said Grace a lively expression.

With that, the four of us conversed with the two kindly old women and we shared our backgrounds. We were sitting on the cushioned chairs near the front desk. We learned that they were reluctant to evacuate because they had been living in Front Royal for a little over seventy years. They had witnessed the gradual redevelopment of the town a forty years ago, which had been concurrent with a temporal rise in the popularity of Shenandoah National Park. They had no relatives inland, so they felt no need to flee westward. They were also undaunted by the swarm, having lived longer than they believed they should have. Grace was 131 years old, Mary 124.

They had visited England last summer before the war. They had much to tell us and were absorbed by the details of our lives. Grace used to be a geneticist and Mary used to be a chemist. They both had retired long ago and had taken life-extension therapy during its infancy, partly because they had known a few of the scientists behind the whole endeavor. They seemed to love our company.

They reminded me of my grandparents, always curious about my young life. They spoke to the four of us as if we were their young relatives. We certainly could be mistaken for their grandchildren if we wanted to pretend that we were. Ada and I had dark brown hair like Mary. Grace could pass as Adele's grandmother. Ella had hazel eyes like Grace and a small facial resemblance. Grace was sort of an outlier with her gray hair. However, losing people that we loved might've given the younger of the six of us a few strands of gray.

–—–

After a while of talking with each other on the chairs, Mary went to sit at a table alone to write in her journal. It intrigued me to see her using that archaic writing instrument, a black ink pen. I wondered how tedious it must be to write a novel, which I assumed she was busying herself with writing, with a pen. My wrist ached at the mere thought.

Grace had retrieved a book and sat upon an armchair toward the back, absorbing herself in that book. When I had passed by her to see the book repair materials in a back room, I saw Adele approach her and ask her about what she was reading. I heard Grace say that it was a book about how to grow a Bonsai tree. I heard their conversation as I walked by.

"Do you grow Bonsai trees?" Adele asked.

"I'm trying," Grace replied with a smile, looking up at Adele.

"Oh, that's cool. I wanna grow one too," Adele sweetly said.

"I live nearby. You can come to my house and grow one with me," Grace suggested, then glanced at me. "You can bring your friends too. Mary and I are lonely people."

I smiled at them as I passed.

"Yeah, I'd love to do that!" Adele exclaimed. "Heard that, Mikey?"

"I did. I'm interested too," I kindly replied, stopping momentarily. "I have a bonsai at my apartment."

"Did you grow it?" Grace asked, intrigued.

"No. I bought it from a Japanese festival long ago," I replied.

"Try your hand at growing one," she eagerly said. "It's a rewarding endeavor, but slow of course."

"I'd be happy to," I eagerly said.

"When do you guys wanna come to my place?" She asked of us.

"Um, today, if that's okay with you," Adele said. "I'll ask the other two."

I nodded and went on my way to the back room. Soon, I was in the small room and I pulled up the list of books in need of repair on my Focus. I found all the tools that I would need to do some basic book repair, but I wasn't exactly an expert.

–—–

After I had finished with the back room, I returned to the front desk. I sat before one of the computers behind the counter. I pulled up a browser, went to a certain website, which hosted videos that would be taken down, and searched for videos of the ongoing war. It was a morbid curiosity of mine that I had been meaning to give up. I just needed to see it for myself. To my surprise, there were quite a few videos. A certain video title caught my attention. It read "US NAVY BOAT DRAGGED UNDERWATER OFF OCEAN CITY. 3/25. 4:27."

I clicked on the video, which was 3:12 in length. For the first minute or so, a cameraman filmed from the boardwalk a lone U.S. Navy ship that seemed to be drifting a thousand feet off the shore. It looked to be the afternoon and the beach in view was empty.

At the 1:04 mark, a long, metallic, serpentine appendage slowly and suddenly emerged from behind the ship. A moment later, it wrapped around the small ship, which was smaller than a destroyer, lifted it up about a hundred feet above the water, held it in the air for a few seconds, then pulled it underneath the surface with such force that a violent splash followed afterward.

The action had happened in twenty-one seconds. About ten seconds or so afterward, a concentrated barrage of what I assumed to be artillery or rocket fire suddenly rained down from the sky on the spot where the boat had been. The rest of the video consisted of the cameraman uttering curses and running away. He was a fool for not evacuating the city beforehand.

After the video, I exited from the browser and promised myself that I would never indulge my morbid curiosity ever again. I diverted my mind by retrieving the old copy of _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ and flipping through the old pages to look at the illustrations.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Of Joy and Suffering  
**

* * *

 **Spring - 4/28/65**

During the next thirty-one days, the four of us were inseparable. For no more than three days a week, we would go to Front Royal to give ourselves a pleasant change of scenery. It was the tranquility of the empty town that made it so appealing. Usually, we would stay there for two or three days in a row and stay overnight at Cloud-Nine inn. For two of those days, we would visit Grace's home, which was in a lovely part of Front Royal. Being avid artists and bonsai enthusiasts, Mary and Grace had persuaded us to take up drawing, although Adele and Ada were the only ones interested in growing bonsai trees for themselves. Ella and I were content to observe the process. I would rather tend to the finished product rather than grow a bonsai from scratch. Both Mary and Grace had also encouraged us to continue our studies with them; they were our tutors at Front Royal while Albert was our informal professor at the park. We would study in a very natural manner, which seemed like the ideal way to learn. That is, learning while strolling amid nature or some pleasant, quiet place rather than while sitting for hours in a stuffy classroom.

Fortunately for us, some change in the policy for the accommodation of displaced persons had made the rooms at the inn free; the receptionist bot had received the update and informed us of it. There were no new arrivals to the town; we assumed that the majority of evacuees had fled further inland.

Early on, we had decided against eating at restaurants every day. Fortunately for us, we had discovered that the local automated grocery stores were giving their food products without charge. We all wondered why that was so. Maybe it meant that the war would be longer than we thought.

When we had arrived back at Skyland Resort the evening after our first trip to Front Royal, Sophie had scolded us for being gone overnight, but we could tell that it was out of a liking for us. On that same day, she had agreed to our plans to visit the town a few days out of the week. She understood that we were young and wanted to enjoy ourselves. We loved Shenandoah National Park and we never ran out of things to do there, but we were untethered by responsibilities then; so, we let our plans for each day be guided by whim. If we wanted to go to Front Royal or even some other town, we would go. However, we would never go too far east near the designated combat zone. The fringes of the combat zone were too remote and most importantly, devoid of law enforcement. Front Royal and other towns west of the Leesburg-Emporia line on the other hand had an assuring National Robot Guard presence. I imagined that only people with bad intentions, people like David, would want to remain in areas without any police or military presence.

At the library, I performed my simple duties and spent most of my hours reading and walking about the town or some nearby natural area with my three friends. We would take informal drawing lessons with Mary and Grace during our time with them and would occasionally hang out at some particularly beautiful, visually appealing area and practice with our pencils and drawing paper. It was strange to use an actual paper for drawing. Grace had convinced us that drawing the old-fashioned way would hone our skills in a way that digital drawing couldn't. It was especially enjoyable when Grace would have us watch old movies at her house, _The Wizard of Oz_ being the first, and choose scenes that we found visually appealing to sketch. I had rarely appreciated movie visuals as much as I did under Mary and Grace's tutelage. Neither had I cherished a teacher as much as I cherished those two women, both well over a century old. They were to me literal repositories of knowledge; biological archives. They taught us as if they were desperate to share their stores of knowledge before passing away.

"I was…always afraid of dying without having shared what I've learned throughout my long life," Grace had told us while we were sketching rocks and pebbles in her backyard during our third week with them. "I'm glad that Mary and I had met you guys."

We would sometimes eat at a restaurant, but were beginning to be more frugal, taking advantage of the free merchandise at the automated grocery stores. Mary and Grace also encouraged us to live partially by the land, particularly Grace's garden, as an experiment in self-sustainment. Of course, we couldn't live entirely by her small garden.

Occasionally, we would chat with the few human National Robot Guard personnel patrolling the town. They were thinly scattered about the fringes of the safe zone. They were all kind and old and had children, some young and some grownups, that had already evacuated inland. Sometimes, we would hang out with the lady that manned the checkpoint to keep her company. Her name was Katherine and the name tape on her uniform, which had her surname, read Pelsey. She had her DEW with her at all times.

Her ex-husband and her twenty-year-old daughter had been on a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia when the swarm had invaded northern Quebec and Labrador from Greenland less than a month ago. To her relief, they had managed to get a plane to St. Louis, Missouri about two weeks prior to the invasion of the east coast.

Given that the library was larger than the one that I used to work at, I had enough to do to keep myself busy. I enjoyed the atmosphere and appreciated having something to distract myself from my memories. Altogether, my duties took little of my time. The assistant bot did most of the work, yet there really wasn't much to do besides making sure the library remained orderly and preserved. I would sometimes wonder with anxiety if the war would ever reach there. Every day, we would all watch the news in the dining room at Skyland Resort to keep ourselves updated. Before we would drive to Front Royal, we would watch the reporting with everyone gathered at the same table. To our relief, the USRC was holding their own against the invasion and the swarm had made little headway into the coastal states. Not a single major city along the eastern seaboard had been lost to the inhuman scourge yet. That fact served to rouse a confidence in all of our hearts.

To my delight, my three friends, who by then were truly my friends, would spend their time in the library with me to read or study while I carried out my simple tasks. After all, they were as curious as I was about nature and were avid learners. We would talk about a variety of things besides biology and English literature. We would talk about life, our hopes and dreams for our own futures, our fears and worries, and so on. We enjoyed our time together, sometimes wept sentimentally over old memories if the weather was particularly dreary, reassured each other, and were there for each other every day. By doing so, never separated from each other for long, we grew close to the point that I would naturally look forward to their company when I woke up each morning. Every time I woke up, a rush of excitement would pervade my heart, then spread throughout my whole body. The uncertainty of the future and the sorrow of the past made the present a refuge for me, for all of us.

Whenever Ella and Adele would busy themselves with something while at the library or walking around the town, Ada and I would immerse ourselves in our own little conversations. I learned much about her. She was twenty-two years old, which matched her youthful appearance. She had just started working at the National Museum of Natural History a month before the invasion of Southeast Asia had begun. I told her that I had wanted to intern at the National Science Foundation in Alexandria but had given up on it after Turkey had been invaded. I had wanted to have a few internships on my resume before applying to Miri-Tec after graduating.

Ada's interest in evolutionary biology mixed well with my interest in cell biology and we would often teach each other whatever we knew. By then, Ada had managed to refresh my knowledge on the biological mechanism behind evolution and was planning to teach me about the evolutionary history of the whale, which I was looking forward to. Grace, who used to be a geneticist in the field of genetic engineering, would occasionally join us in our discourses and help us to understand more deeply the molecular mechanism behind a particular aspect of evolution. She knew all the best digital resources to learn more about the subject. Ada and I were so grateful for her knowledge and perpetual merriness. Her personality was a mixture of that of a teacher and a kind grandmother.

Whenever we needed a break from the atmosphere of the library or Mary and Grace's lessons, we would all walk around the quiet, seemingly abandoned town together or even go a little beyond its bounds. We had visited small art galleries nearby, a couple of small natural parks, a nearby Japanese garden, which we visited often, and a few shopping centers. We never went too far away, though.

During our time at the park and Skyland Resort, Albert served as our second tutor. He never tired of teaching. He taught us not only in the dining room, but also as we hiked and rambled about the park. His passion for science, especially virology, was infectious. He was delighted to be able to teach without being limited by the requirements of being a professor. On the four or five days that we spent at the park with Sophie's group, we all developed a strong bond with each other there. It wasn't long before I learned that Hannah and Bryan were the lovebirds that were the reason for Sophie's fifth rule, which prohibited sexual intercourse within earshot of her room and her room only. Hannah and Bryan's room were right next to mine. My room was between theirs and Ada's. Ella's and Adele's rooms were below ours.

Fortunately, I had only heard the lovebirds going at it once and close to midnight. Contrary to Sophie's accusations, they didn't sound like whales or cows in the act. They were nice enough to stay at a separate cabin whenever they did so, and it seemed that they were at that cabin every other day. Sometimes, I would long for the love that they had for each other. Their love for each other was beyond physical attraction; the way they behaved with each other made it seem as if they had escaped a concentration camp together and were forever grateful for their chance to be together again.

The reason why they didn't just move into the cabin was because they enjoyed being close to the rest of the group. We all lived in the same building, which had twelve rooms. There were six on the first floor and six on the second, the latter of which Ada and I were in. All of the rooms faced westward toward the valley and the Massanutten Mountain range.

Those thirty-one days passed without anything extraordinary occurring in our own little world. It was the seclusion of the park and the town, both on the fringe of the combat zone and empty of people besides our little group, Mary and Grace never leaving the town, that made for our own little world removed from reality.

 **—April 1—**

On a cozy morning on April 1st, when the light of sunrise was beginning to color the skies, we were all gathered in the dining room at Skyland Resort, watching the news on the TV. The completion of the Odyssey was announced that morning to the public by Osvald Dalgaard, spokesman for Far Zenith. Afterward, we all discussed the implications behind him revealing the project on April Fool's Day. To our amusement, Ada joked that the people behind Zero Dawn would be leaving the planet on the Odyssey. We all discussed what the Odyssey meant for humanity. I wondered why Far Zenith felt the need to send a colony ship 8.6 light years away to safeguard the future of our species. Didn't they believe in Zero Dawn? Albert assured us that Far Zenith wasn't affiliated with the government, that their intentions were separate from Zero Dawn. Far Zenith's desire to leave earth to save humanity implied nothing about our chances here against the swarm.

 **—April 5—**

During the evening of April 5th, the four of us were walking in a Japanese garden a few miles away from Front Royal. Ada was teaching me about the amazing, gradual evolution of the cetaceans from a land mammal millions of years ago to the modern whale as we strolled along. I was so immersed in what she had to say as we walked that she would occasionally smile sweetly at my wonder. Her lovely smile would kickstart my heart whenever I witnessed it. However, I managed to avoid being too enchanted by her.

When she would teach me about certain aspects of the evolution of cetaceans, I would eagerly ask her questions whenever I needed clarification, and she would answer with just as much eagerness. Not that we only spoke of biology. As I mentioned, we talked heart to heart as anyone during uncertain days would with a friend. Either that or we shared a silence. There is an elevated joy that comes when one can simply be with a friend in an enveloping silence. It signifies a settled, calm heart. Not even grief could overturn the peace that my time with a group of nature mendicants about two years ago had fostered in me.

I had some time ago found a deep connection with a certain passage in Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ that resonated with me. It described the relationship between my habitual calm and periodic sorrow. It was saved on my Focus.

"Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit, that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures."

I remember having read _Frankenstein_ three times, dwelling on that passage for long. I would sometimes wish that I could meet that man described in the passage; it was the main character, Victor Frankenstein himself. The passage describes him long after having lost those closest to his heart. He had lost his mother, his beloved Elizabeth, and other friends or relatives because of his grotesque monster.

 **—April 12—**

On a particularly rainy and stormy day, the 12th of April, when the sky was nothing but gray clouds, the four of us stayed in the library to read and amuse ourselves with conversation or our own separate activities. During the gray afternoon, Ada and I were discussing the effect of the shift to agriculture on the human body thousands of years ago. We were sitting side by side in a secluded part of the building, flipping through a large, digital book on that topic. As Ada discussed the subject with me, I would occasionally linger my eyes on her face for seconds at a time, sometimes even two, to admire her lovely face, animated by curiosity. I thanked mother nature for making beauty in character and loveliness in appearance compatible features of human beings.

She wasn't conceited in her knowledge, but an eager student of nature, of the world. She would always share something new that she had learned with me with wholehearted enthusiasm. What endeared her to me even more was the fact that she had a preference for observing nature as it was rather than studying it too deeply. She had said so to me one evening while we were walking amid a small, empty park. She would rather appreciate the simple rustling of a conifer amid a light breeze than ponder the tree as a biologist. That was why she enjoyed learning how to draw so much. I shared the same sentiment.

When we first read Ruskin's _The Elements of Drawing_ as part of Grace's lessons, I remembered the following line from the preface that stuck with me and warmed me to the old book:

"I would rather teach drawing so that my pupils may learn to love Nature, than teach the looking at Nature that they may learn how to draw."

Early on, Mary and Grace had emphasized that particular aspect of Ruskin's teaching. Drawing wasn't meant for vanity, but as an appreciation of natural beauty. We drew to forget ourselves and remember nature. We all agreed with that sentiment wholeheartedly. When we would practice our shading, we would look at the subtle gradations of the evening sky during twilight and try to mimic with our pencils that gradual shift in blue from light to dark that showed in the west. Although it was difficult at first for me to make my shading as gradual as the colors in the sky during sunset, the practice gave me an excuse to do nothing but admire the heavens at that time of day.

–—–

Sometimes, it would seem to me so surreal that I had met such wonderful people. On some nights before I would fall asleep, I would think about what pits of anguish awaited me should I lose them. After all, the swarms were no longer separated by an ocean.

However, learning from the news every day that the USRC was managing to hold the swarm back had significantly diminished my worry. I trusted the USRC and Zero Dawn. I trusted humanities resolve. However, I remembered that many countries hadn't stood a chance against the mechanical plague. The Western European Alliance had been ravaged as far as I knew (most people preferred to name the countries that constituted the WEA; the alliance was still foreign to many). Hope and fear fluctuated within me every day, the morning news serving as a shot of hope like caffeine.

On a rainy evening in a YumNow, the four of us had discussed the temporal nature of relationships. The gray, cloudy skies and the perpetual rain on that day had brought on a somber mood, which led to our discussion about impermanence. It relieved me somewhat that we all acknowledged that aspect of human life. They had mature views on life and death as I had learned.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel an occasional longing for Ada during that period. She was lovely in appearance and personality. Her lively spirit showed in her demeanor and enhanced her outward beauty a hundredfold. However, I still held on to my resolve to keep away from any feelings for her that were too tender. I managed that by keeping Nicole in mind.

Sometimes, I would wish that she had a boyfriend, so that I wouldn't be so prone to intrusive thoughts of being hers. I never thought of her being "mine," though. I was looking for penitence in a new relationship; penitence in the form of pure selflessness on my part. How could I expect anything from anyone in a relationship anymore? I could only ever find joy in making up for my selfishness, which had led to Nicole's demise. Memories of when I hadn't been the best that I could be for Nicole made me want to atone for my negligence. Those who have lost what I have lost know that sentiment of mine.

 **—April 28, thirty-one days later—**

It was a quiet Tuesday morning. The four of us were watching the news in an automated café, which was connected to the empty Cornucopia grocery store that we had visited. We hadn't ordered any coffee; we had just been drawn to the small café by its inviting look of seclusion. The grocery store was abandoned and the café, which was near the entrance, was like a double removal from reality. The barista bot had turned the TV on before we sat ourselves on the brown, faux leather armchairs in the corner. The chairs were arranged in such a way that we faced each other. A varnished, dark-wooden coffee table stood in the center of the huddled chairs. We sat in silence for a while, but suddenly diverted our downcast eyes to the TV after hearing the reporter's unsettling voice. The headline read "Skirmishes at the Vermont-New Hampshire Border."

"USRC and Civilian Guard divisions have been pulled back to the Vermont-New Hampshire border in an attempt to lure the Horus machines out of the sea. The titans possess the surprising ability to submerge themselves underwater for indefinite periods to escape detection. FAS Chariot-line experts have informed military officials that their ability to function underwater, which includes their ability to regenerate and reproduce, is well within their range of wartime capabilities. If the pullback succeeds in luring the Horuses onto the shores, our military will have itself an opportunity to gain the upper hand over the invaders. The pullback was ordered for another reason besides that of luring the titans onto land. The swarm that had invaded Quebec from Greenland in late February is no more than five hundred miles north of Montreal and Canadian Forces, supplemented by some of our own divisions, have been facing much difficulty in hindering the swarm's southward advances. USRC officials have stated that military commanders had planned to take early measures to prevent the possibility of our coastal armies being cut off from behind should the Quebec swarm break through Canada-Vermont border in the future…"

"Ben," said Ella to the barista bot. "Turn off the TV."

"Yes, madam."

She shook her head slowly, resting her head on her right hand.

"Everywhere we go, there's a TV. And the news is always the first thing on," Ella said.

We were all silent for a while, reflecting on things. We had grown accustomed to sharing long periods of silence with each other; it came naturally. Such moments were like "diving" into the depths of the atmosphere enveloping us. There was no outside, no other place besides the tiny café as we sat.

"You guys wanna go to Grace's house now?" Ada asked amid the quietness.

"Yeah," Adele said. "She has a drawing lesson for us today. And a lecture on telomeres."

Under Grace's and Mary's passionate instructions, we had managed to learn how to draw pretty well in just thirty-one days. They had assigned us copies of John Ruskin's _The Elements of Drawing,_ which was old, but well written and encouraging.

"I've probably drawn every rock in Shenandoah by now," Ella said. We all chuckled.

"We're gonna be drawing trees now, I think," Adele said.

"Yeah, branches," I casually said. "Or _a_ branch, at least."

"Then we'll have our lecture," Ada said. "It's like were in school again, but without the exams."

"And the anxiety," Ella said, leaning her head back against the chair. "I wish Grace had been my teacher."

We were silent again for some time.

"You know what?" Ella suddenly said, still with her head leaning back.

"What?" Adele said.

"Let's skip Grace's lesson today."

"What?" Ada asked.

"We'll take a break today," Ella said. "There's someplace I want to take you guys."

"But what about Grace?" Adele asked. "She's expecting us."

"Is she gonna put us in detention?" Ella joked.

"No, but we might break her heart."

"Addie, she knows that we have no obligations to attend her lessons. She said so herself."

"Yeah, but—"

"We'll see her tomorrow, Addie. C'mon," Ella said.

"Fine...what's your plan?"

We all studied Ella's face, waiting for her to tell us what she had in mind. She took her Focus out of her pocket and manipulated the invisible display. After a minute or so, she took it off and put it back in her pants pocket.

"So," she said, pausing for a bit. "Let's go to Club Eden."

"Club Eden?" Adele asked, looking confused.

"An android strip club," Ella casually said. "It's nearby. About fifteen minutes away."

We all looked at her with amusement as if waiting for her to laugh and dismiss her suggestion as a mere joke. She kept a serious expression, though.

"A strip club?" I asked, smiling as if she were kidding us.

"Yeah," Ella plainly replied. "I figured that you guys must be sexually frustrated people."

We all chuckled at her blunt humor.

"I've heard of android strippers before, I just wanna see what the craze is about," she said. "We won't have anyone to judge us."

"Except our conscience," I quipped. We all chuckled.

"C'mon, let's go," Ella said, rising from her chair.

"So, you'd rather see androids stripping than hang out with Grace?" Adele asked with an amused expression.

"It's only for today."

"Do we have to give any personal information to enter this strip club?" I asked, willing to go if they were going.

"No, I don't think so," Ella replied.

"Whatever, I'll go along," Adele reluctantly said, rising from her chair.

"If it's gross inside, I'm leaving," Ada said, rising too.

"It's pretty high end, the one we're going to," Ella said, looking at me for my decision.

"I guess I'll go," I said, feigning disinterest.

She gave an indulgent grin and wore a look of satisfaction.

"Good. It'll be fun. Weird, yes, but fun."

–—–

About a quarter of an hour later, the time on the dashboard reading 10:34, we arrived at Club Eden. The small parking lot was empty as were the other parking lots nearby except one down the road, which I had seen with a dark green SUV and a black truck parked in it.

To my surprise, the club was in a particularly high-end part of the next town. Front Royal was too family friendly to host a strip club within its bounds. The club had a building of its own with a neon sign and holographic depictions of Club Eden android performers. Its façade was so showy that I chuckled as soon as I saw it. The name of the club was shown in purple, neon letters. The digital screen below that sign read "Sexiest androids in America" over an image of a naked, reclining female android. She, or _it_ if you were against such pronouns for androids, looked strikingly human. It was her gaze that made her look so, and her skin. Of course, that was just an advertisement; I had never seen a real android stripper before.

"Is it free to enter?" I asked, studying the building.

"Yes, but it's not free to…get some action," Ella coolly said.

"This is weird," I said. "What are we gonna do?"

"Yeah, I'm not gonna make love to a bot," Ada lightheartedly said. Adele chuckled.

After the car parked itself, we exited and headed for the club's entrance.

"Let's just see how realistic they are," Ella replied, walking ahead of us. "We don't have to do anything. They serve food here too. We can just eat."

"Food? At a strip club?" I asked, confused. "That's…strange."

"Yeah," Adele said.

I was suddenly assailed by the thought of an android giving me a lap dance with a blank expression as I ate a sandwich.

"Yeah. Apparently, the food's good. That's why I chose this place."

"You chose a strip club for the food?" Ada asked, stifling a grin.

"Yeah."

We all chuckled.

–—–

Soon, we were in the club, which was empty of human customers. The main room had four android performers, two males and two females, in underwear. They approached their own poles, which were on raised, circular platforms, and began to seductively dance for no one in particular.

"Fuck, they're all hot," Ella said as we sat ourselves on a table.

Shortly, a waiter-bot approached us and took our orders. It asked us if we were interested in any additional services during our visit. We all smiled at each other as if to say, "what the hell have we got ourselves into."

"No, we're not interested," Ada said to the bot. "But I think our friend, Michael, is."

I looked at her with surprise and amusement. They all laughed at me. My cheeks might've been red with awkwardness. They knew that I was the opposite of salacious; that's what made Ella's joke the more humorous.

"Wait," I said to the bot. "She's lying. I'm not interested."

"He is interested," Ella said. "He's lying."

"Very well. Are you interested in our one-hour special for $19.99, sir? We have quite the selection of female androids, or male if you are homosexual," said the bot with an even voice.

They all laughed out loud again.

"C'mon, Michael," joked Ada. "$20 isn't bad."

"No, thank you," I said, stifling a smile by shaking my head. "I'm not exactly the android type."

"Wow, that is a sexy droid," Ella said. "What's her name?"

"Her name is Camilla," said the waiter-bot. "Would you like me to bring her to you?"

"Yes."

–—–

After we had eaten and after Ella had received a personal performance from the android called Camilla, we headed for the exit. As I walked behind the others, I sneaked a glance at the other female android performer, who was dancing seductively around her pole. I hadn't so much as indulged a sexual thought for many months because of the world war, but the levity of the mood during our time at Club Eden had provoked me to some extent. Provoked me in the sense that I had grown aware of the sexiness of that near lifelike female android. She had short, brown hair and a lovely face that drew me in. Her "skin" closely resembled that of a human and a healthy, sexy one at that. She had a slight resemblance to Nicole, although it was lesser than Ada's stark resemblance. She wasn't as beautiful as the two, but she was alluring. As I walked past her, she looked at me with a faint, knowing smile. I lingered my eyes on her legs for a moment. Another second later, I averted my gaze, analyzing the subtle sensation that her bare legs, had aroused in me. I turned over the feeling in my head as if it were a pebble. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt aroused in that way. However, it was short-lived. Those who have known loss aren't so prone to sexual thoughts.

"I'm gonna use the restroom," Ella said.

"Yeah, I need it too," said Adele.

"Me too," Ada said.

"I'll be outside," I said to them.

"Don't get lost out there," Ada joked.

"I'll try not to," I replied, smiling.

Shortly, I went out the front door. The first thing that caught my eye once I had exited was a black truck that was driving away about ten feet down the road. I froze with fear; it looked like David's truck from the charging station nearly a month ago. As I remained still like a statue, I hoped that the truck would continue driving away, but a second or so later, it suddenly stopped and made a quick U-turn. As it sped toward me, I briefly considered running back into the strip club, but quickly thought against doing so. I didn't want to endanger my friends. Instead, I ran down the sidewalk, away from the approaching truck. My heart was pounding as if ready to hatch a newborn. I eyed the corner of the intersection with desperation, but before I could go around it, the car pulled up beside me. I heard the doors quickly open and shut.

"Bring that fucker to me!" Shouted a harsh voice.

I continued to run with every bit of energy I had and even more so when I heard the sound of someone running after me from behind. I quickly looked behind me before turning the corner and saw two men in hunting attire chasing after me, one wearing the most vicious expression on his face. The closer of the two was scrawny and had black hair in a buzz cut. The other, who lagged a little behind the former, had similarly short dark hair. It was then that I knew what it was like to be a prey.

I saw David casually walking behind them, looking right into my eyes. A few seconds later, I was suddenly grabbed around the waist by one of the men while the one with the buzz cut, who arrived a second later, grabbed my ankles. They lifted me off the ground and brought me in the direction of the truck.

"I'll cut your fucking fingers if you try to resist! " Shouted the man with the buzz cut.

He was looking at me with such malice that I stopped my frantic struggles to break free. I could see in his eyes that he would hurt me without any remorse, although he was skinny like a twig. Shortly, David approached us and eyed me with a neutral expression. I saw a tinge of satisfaction in his eyes.

"This the thug that shot Ted?" Asked the man carrying me by my waist.

"In the flesh," said David. "Get him in my truck."

I looked at David with pure disgust. He had lied to them about Ted's death. It was David who had shot Ted at the charging station.

"You killed him, David!" I shouted with angry disbelief. "You shot him at the charging station! I saw you do it!"

"Shut your lying ass up, boy!" David yelled. "You kill my friend, then you go on lying about it!"

"Boy, you fucked up," said the man hold my ankles. "You fucked up real bad."

"I didn't kill Ted!" I frantically said. "It was David. He's lying."

David suddenly punched me in my face and I stoically managed the pain. I realized that trying to tell them the truth was pointless. They were intent on making me pay.

"I don't wanna hear your lying, boy! Can you believe him, Gabe?"

The man called Gabe, who was carrying me by my waist, snickered in reply.

"What're we gonna do with him, David? I wanna beat his pretty little face in," said the buzz cut man, who was holding my ankles.

"We're bringing him to Benson's," said David with an imposing tone. "We wanna give him the privilege."

"Benson's gonna pussy out, though, David," said the man with the buzz cut. "Let's fuck him up right here."

"Get him in the fucking truck, Smitty! Jesus!" David shouted.

"FUCK!" Shouted the man holding my ankles, but he complied.

They threw me into the backseat of the truck. The man with the buzz cut, who was called Smitty, entered the backseat with me and restrained my hands with a handcuff, but not without giving me a few bruises. He then smack me across my face a couple of times. He had crazy eyes.

I endured his abuse, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of appearing afraid.

"You try to do anything, I'll have Smitty break your fucking arm," warned David, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

I briefly glanced at him in the mirror, but quickly averted my gaze. I reasoned that unhinged minds were offended by eye contact.

The man called Gabe entered the passenger's seat. As we quickly sped away, I felt the heaviest dread pool within my heart. I felt like I was headed for hell. After a minute or so, Smitty suddenly punched me twice on my shoulder with a maniacal laugh. I winced at the pain but remained stoic. However, I was drenched with fear.

"Smitty!" Shouted David, who had his hands on the steering wheel. "Don't hit my damn merchandise! We're giving him to Benson."

"His fucking gay ass won't do a goddamn thing!" Smitty retorted. "He's a fucking softy!"

"It's his goddamn beef, Smitty! Ted was his friend. Not yours," David said. "Ted didn't like your sorry ass."

"Fuck you, David! I knew Ted longer than you!" Smitty shouted.

"He fucking hated your ass, Smitty! Don't think for a second that he liked you!"

"Fuck you, motherfu—"

"Shut the _fuck_ up, Smitty! Fuck!" Shouted Gabe. "You whine like a goddamn girl, you know that."

With that, we were all silent. I looked at the sky out my window with utter desolation. I could feel Smitty eyeing me with pure wickedness right beside me. I wondered if my life was merely a hell and my time with Nicole had been a mere prelude to my torment. After ten minutes or so of sitting, I saw a VTOL flying eastward. The realization that the pilots of that aircraft were oblivious to my personal misery increased my despair tenfold. Why would they care about my predicament? I was insignificant? They had greater matters to attend to like the ongoing invasion to the east. Despite my situation, I found a tinge of relief in the thought that my friends were safe, that David hadn't seen them. That relief grew into a stoic contentment. The familiar faces of my three friends, who I had known for a long month like a year, flitted through my mind. I saw Ella's friendly expression pass like smoke, her light brown hair moving with her vibrant personality. I saw Adele's kind face laughing, her flaxen hair reflecting her light character. Then, I saw Ada's face, her dark blue eyes, her dark brown hair reaching the top of her white neck. I was already missing them.

When their faces dissolved in my despair, I remembered the cyan pill in my pocket and resolved to ingest it as soon as my hands were free.

–—–

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at a house. David had managed to avoid any of the NRG patrols and judging by the short drive, I assumed that we were still within the safe zone. I knew that we weren't far from Front Royal. I remembered that I had my Focus in my right pocket and I hoped that I would have a chance to use it. Calling Ada and asking her to send an NRG patrol to my location seemed like a good plan, although I feared that calling her might somehow put her in danger. I dismissed that plan for the time being.

A moment later, David opened the door on my side and pulled me out by my arm. For some reason, I felt safer around David rather than Smitty. That was merely a testimony to Smitty's terrifying personality.

"You better be respectful to Benson, you hear?" David said as he led me by the arm. "You killed his best friend."

My hands were still handcuffed. I planned out in my head how I would go about ingesting the cyan pill without being stopped. I would only ingest it if I had no hope of escaping. I knew that I could overpower David, but not when he was with Smitty and Gabe. Smitty was about my size, but his unhinged personality would make up for it. Gabe was a bit taller than me and had more muscular arms.

"Why would you lie about what happened to Ted?" I asked, feeling brave.

"Shut up!" He nervously said. "I fucking hate liars like you!"

"I hope Benson fucks you up," said Smitty, who was walking behind me and David. "Best hope he doesn't take a liking to you. He does like handsome boys."

I shuddered at his sudden remark.

"Your fucking disgusting, Smitty," said Gabe. "Fucking despicable."

"Fuck you, Gabe! You know it's true," Smitty shouted. "Or maybe he's only into fat-asses like Ted."

"He's just a scared kid, David," said the man called Gabe. "Let's just let him go. This isn't right."

I furtively looked at him with gratitude. He was walking beside David.

"Are you fucking stupid, Gabe!" Smitty said from behind.

"Benson wants the man who killed Ted," said David. "He's blaming it all on me, Gabe."

"I didn't kill him," I uttered, but restrained myself from saying more.

"Goddamn, boy," David viciously said. "You lie this much every day? Jesus fucking Christ!"

"You had me thinking he was some thug, David," Gabe said. "He doesn't look like he'd harm a bug!"

"What are you saying, Gabe? Huh!" David frantically asked, tightening his grip on my arm. "You think I'm lying?"

"Did I say that?" Gabe replied with a defensive tone.

"You said he wouldn't harm a bug, so who killed him then?"

"I didn't mean it like that, David."

"Then shut your goddamn mouth!"

Shortly, we were on the front porch of the house. David unlocked the door with a key, then opened it and led me in with a strong grip on my upper arm. Gabe and Smitty followed behind and I heard the door shut. I looked around and was surprised to see that the house looked well-kept and inviting; the exact opposite of what I imagined the dwellings of people like David to look like. I reasoned that it wasn't David's or Smitty's house.

"Benson!" David called. "Check this out!"

A moment later, a man about my height entered the living room, which we were standing in. He looked to be a man in his late thirties and he had an unsettling demeanor. As he neared us, I saw his shrunken pupils in his cold, gray eyes. He had an odd, close lipped smile on his face as he approached. I then noticed that the roughness of his left cheek seemed to have been caused by a burn long ago. The top of his head was bald, but black and gray hair, like a tumbleweed, remained on the sides. I didn't like him one bit, and he hadn't even spoken yet.

"What is this, David?" He asked, smiling. "Who's this handsome young man, and why is he handcuffed?"

"Benson," David said. "This is the boy that killed Ted."

Benson slowly shifted his gaze to me and looked at me with those cold, gray eyes.

"You killed my Ted?" He plainly asked.

"No, David killed him," I boldly said. "I saw him shoot him."

He leaned his right shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms.

"David wouldn't do that," he coolly said. "I know him."

I lowered my eyes, feeling defeated. I considered how I would escape. I was afraid, but I didn't show it.

"I'm not lying," I said. "I swear."

"Alright, alright," said Benson. "Don't get riled up."

I glanced at him, taken aback by his calm voice.

"You know, I loved Ted very much," he casually said, looking at the floor. "I loved him very much."

I warily eyed him. I could easily outdo him in a fight, but he had his friends around me.

"But David told me that you were a handsome young fellow," he said, looking up at me without moving his head. "I see that he was right. Maybe losing Ted wasn't so bad after all."

I was disturbed by his words. I remembered that Smitty had said that Benson was gay when we were in the truck.

"Are we good now, Benson? Or are you still gonna blame me every day?" David asked with exasperation.

"I'm more than good, David. Thank you for doing this," Benson said, then looked at me right in my eyes. "Bring him to my room. I wanna have a word with him."

"Benson let's give it up," Gabe plead. "He's just a kid."

"But he killed my best friend, Gabe. Should I just let his killer go walking about?"

"What are you going to do to him?"

"It's none of your fucking business, Gabe," said Benson as if stifling anger. Gabe said no more.

"Smitty, bring him to my room and handcuff him to the chair," said the bald Benson.

–—–

About twenty minutes later as I could see from the holo-clock on the nightstand, I was still sitting on the wooden chair in Benson's room. I was handcuffed to it. The door was locked, and Benson was sitting on the same kind of chair facing me nearly knee to knee. He had simply studied me for the whole of the twenty minutes without saying a word. It was unsettling, but better than being punched like in those spy movies of old.

"You're a beautiful young man," he suddenly said amid the silence. "What's your name?"

I warily looked at him but decided that being amiable would be the best thing for me to do.

"Michael," I casually said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Michael. I've seen many young men in my life, but you…you're the handsomest that I've seen in a long time."

I felt a sense of panic fill my heart, but I remained composed. I didn't respond to his…compliment. I looked at the carpeted floor.

"I bet you have a girlfriend," he said. "She must be the luckiest girl in the world."

I remained silent.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

I looked up at him.

"No."

"A boyfriend?"

"No."

"Really?"

I hesitated before replying.

"Yeah."

A brief silence followed. I felt his eyes on me as I looked at the floor.

"This is how we're gonna do this, Michael," he suddenly said, scratching the side of his head. "I want you to do what I ask of you, then I might set you free. Sound good?"

I looked up at him again, but with suspicious eyes. I waited for him to continue, wondering what his conditions would be.

"Sound good?" He repeated with the same tone.

"What do I have to do?" I coolly asked.

With that, he leaned forward on his chair and put the fingers of his right hand on my chin. Then, he slowly trailed his fingers across my left cheek and brought them to the left edge of my lips. He looked completely mesmerized, but I was repulsed by him.

" _So_ beautiful," he whispered to himself, trailing his repulsive fingers over my lips as if they were delicate jewels. "So beautiful…how is this even possible?"

—

* * *

"Et scribam plura, quod bonum est mihi ut vitia corrigere." - caeruleum ovium


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: He is Fond of Me**

* * *

 **A/N:** This story is also on Archive of Our Own under the same title, but my alias there is BluSheep. Thank you. Now, without further distractions...

* * *

 **Spring - 4/28/65**

Only maybe thirty minutes had passed since I had been brought in the house, and maybe five minutes since he had touched my lips, but I was already missing the outside world. I recalled the green needles on the branches of the conifers, the pine cones strewn on the grass beneath them, the forests of oak, birch, and poplar trees at the park, and the squirrels and birds that played about them. Ella's, Adele's, and Ada's faces were evoked with these natural scenes in my wilting mind. I wondered if I would ever see them again. I remembered sitting with them in Cloud-Nine inn's lounge every night before sleeping, the calm of those moments, the TV sounding in the background at a lowered volume.

The man sitting before me sat back in his chair to ogle me some more; I tried to reassure myself by thinking that although I might die that day, suffering in whatever way I would beforehand, my three friends would live on afterward. I resolved to ingest my cyan pill as soon as I got the chance to use the restroom.

However, I had some hope. I was terrified by Benson's apparent _interest_ in me, but he looked to be relatively composed. I was willing to endure some discomfort for the chance to be set free. I just had to do whatever he asked of me.

I looked into his eyes, which seemed to fluctuate between a sensibility and an unsettling fixation on some part of my face. The daylight seeped through the closed blinds and thin curtains. I knew that I could outdo him in a fight if my hands were free. However, I was afraid of his two companions beside Gabe, who had expressed some humanity despite the cruelty of his friends.

"Michael," Benson said. "I'm a calm man, as you can see. I hope you appreciate that."

I warily eyed him, unwilling to say anything. He continued to study me, his eyes occasionally darting toward my lips.

"What do I have to do for you to let me go?" I asked, feeling fearless.

He eyed me for some time before speaking. Then, he suddenly scooted forward on his chair and leaned toward me, grabbing my chin in the process. He brought his face closer to mine as he held my chin with the fingers of his right hand. In a split second, I knew what he wanted.

Before he could touch his lips to mine, I instinctually turned my head to the left in revulsion as if a fly had buzzed near my mouth. The motion had forced my chin away from his loose grip. I kept my head turned in that way for a few seconds, feeling a horrid emotion pooling within my chest and stomach.

"That was very rude," he said matter-of-factly after a moment of silence. "You want me to let you go, don't you?"

I kept my head turned away, gazing at the gray carpet of the bedroom floor. For some reason, the minute details of the carpet seemed so captivating then. It was as if my mind thought I could find refuge in those little details.

"Don't you?"

"What exactly do I have to do?"

"Whatever I want of you?" He calmly said.

"What is that?"

"You aren't in any position to be asking me questions like that?" He said, then sighed. "I just want a few kisses, until I'm satisfied. Is that hard?"

"You'll let me go if I do this?" I warily asked.

"I said I would, didn't I?"

I studied his face for a while, looking for any sign of malice or deception. All I saw was a mixture of composure and infatuation. I saw infatuation when his eyes would glaze over, unmoving from some spot on my face.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

His expression suddenly changed to one of annoyance. I might've shown a tinge of fright at seeing it.

"You killed my Ted, my best friend," he said, slowly nodding his head as if holding back a rage. "And you sit here talking like you have options? This is funny. You're very funny, Michael."

I tried to maintain a stoic, defiant composure and I felt that I was doing well in keeping myself so. Although my hands were handcuffed to the wooden dining chair, I remained unfazed for the most part. I didn't sense a violent nature in Benson's character, but he still creeped me out. Seeing that I kept silent, he looked at me with a scolding look as if I were an insubordinate student.

"I'm giving you the chance to redeem yourself as long as you let me do what I want, with you," he sternly said. "I'm not asking for much here, Michael."

I eyed him for a few seconds, assured somewhat by his collected demeanor despite his disgusting request. Only Nicole was allowed to kiss me. With her gone, no one would be given that liberty so easily, let alone the man sitting before me, who was likely as repellent in spirit as he was in appearance. However, I knew my situation and I wasn't so stupid as to let obstinacy risk more abuse to myself than I was already promised. I thought that letting him kiss me would be better than being beaten.

 _He believes that I killed Ted, his best friend, but he isn't being violent with me,_ I reasoned. _I'll just go through with it so that he'll let me go._

"So? You made up your mind?" He asked. I hesitated before replying.

"Yeah," I said, choosing to hide my reluctance. "If you hold your end of the deal."

"I said I would," he said, grinning.

With that, he scooted forward on his chair again and leaned forward, grabbing my chin with the fingers of his right more firmly than before. He quickly brought his face closer to mine and before I knew it, he had his unwelcome lips on my own, which had only been for Nicole's use my whole life. I felt a spark of rage at that thought, but I quelled it. I was a prisoner and I needed to do whatever I had to do to free myself. He lingered his lips on mine for a second too long. However, I kept calm despite my desire to kill him.

A second later, he pulled his face away and looked at me as if he had just kissed his crush. A smile grew on his face. His burnt cheek, which wasn't too different in texture from the other, wrinkled slightly in his happy grin.

"Jesus…" he said with a quivering voice.

He then leaned forward once again and quickly kissed me a second time. A strong desire to murder him and die right then and there overtook me. He pulled his face away again and ogled me with a disturbing look of delight. He trailed his thumb over my lips, and I felt him inch it ever so slightly into my mouth, but he didn't let it go too far. He then put his fingers back onto my chin and crashed his horrid lips onto mine again. That time, I felt his tongue on my lips and I pulled my face away from his again. It was a knee-jerk reaction. I felt a mixture of rage, helplessness, and fear pervade my heart. I felt queasy.

As I kept my face turned away, Benson suddenly grabbed my hair with his right hand and yanked it so that I faced him again.

"You do not do that," he said with a raised voice, shaking his head. "You do _not_ do that."

"Fuck you, you hideous piece of shit!" I viciously retorted.

Immediately after, he slapped me with his free hand. I felt so helpless then. When I looked at him again after recovering from the strike of his palm, he slapped me once more. Then, he quickly leaned forward and crashed his mouth against mine as if he were desperate for my lips. I felt his tongue on my lips again and I stoically let him do so. He backed away to look over my face as if to see for himself what he was kissing and satisfied with what he saw, he brought his lips to mine again. He did that a third time, then a fourth, and so on to maybe ten. I wanted to stab him ten times that number.

"You're so beautiful," he said before kissing me again. "You think you can get away with that?"

"I didn't kill Ted," I said, hoping to get through to him. "I saw David shoot him with my own eyes. I swear."

"You expect me to believe you?" He asked with a slightly mocking tone, his spellbound eyes still locked onto me. "I trust David."

"I'm telling you the truth. He's a fucking liar."

"You just wanna easy pass out of here, Michael," he calmly said. "It's not gonna be that simple."

As he leaned forward to kiss me again, I came up with something to get away from him.

"I need to use the restroom," I frantically said.

"Fucking liar."

"I've been holding it in since I got here."

He eyed me for a few seconds, then suddenly grabbed my hair.

"You better not be planning anything," he said. "David!"

A moment later David replied to Benson's call.

"What?"

"Get in here."

I heard the sound of the door knob turning, but it was evidently locked.

"The door's locked."

Benson rose from his chair and went to unlock the door. Then, David entered and immediately looked at me. I thought I saw a tinge of concern in his eyes, but it became a look of disdain. He snickered at my pitiful situation, handcuffed to the chair like a slave.

"What you been doing, Benson?" He asked, chuckling.

"Take him to the restroom, will you?" Benson said, ignoring the question. "Make sure he doesn't try anything stupid."

"Bet he pissed his pants," he said, walking toward me. "So, are we gonna be keeping him? Gabe won't shut up about letting him go."

Benson gave me a sideward glance. David eyed me too with a neutral expression. I looked at the lit hallway through the open door, wishing to run through it to the front door.

"You think we should? You said so yourself that he killed Ted. I need him to repay me in some way," Benson said, eyeing me with evident lust.

He spoke as if I were some _thing._

"Yeah, but what are we gonna do with him after? He's dead weight?" David reasoned. "Once you do your thing, let's just ditch him somewhere."

Benson looked at me again, turning something over in his head.

"Just take him to the restroom. Make sure he doesn't do anything," Benson said, but as an equal rather than a superior.

"He won't be doing anything," David casually said, removing my handcuffs.

"Yeah? Last time you thought that, he killed Ted," Benson said matter-of-factly.

"Benson, it wasn't my fucking fault. This fucker snatched his gun like a pro," he said, referring to me. "He shoulda remembered the 21-foot rule."

"Is that right?"

"It is."

"He's been telling me that you were lying, that you killed Ted," Benson coldly said. "He's awfully good at being convincing."

David turned his whole body toward Benson, leaving me standing behind him. I felt the tension in the room.

"You believe this fucking liar instead of me?" He said with a seething tone.

"I'm saying if you were lying, I'm gonna place a bullet in your fucking skull."

"Is there something you wanna say to me?" David asked, walking up to Benson so that they were mere inches away from each other.

They were the same height, although Benson was slightly larger in build.

"I said it already, didn't I?"

"I went outta my way to bring you this son-of-a-bitch, and you talk to me like this?"

They eyed each other for a few seconds, which felt like a minute.

"Just so you know, we're not letting the boy go till I say so," Benson said, looking straight into David's eyes. "Tell Gabe to shut his fucking mouth about it."

I was still standing beside the chair, having been distracted from my predicament by their argument.

"I'm fine with that," David coolly replied.

"Take him to the restroom before he wets himself."

"Alrighty, Mr. Benson," he said with a mocking salute.

Benson looked at me, then back at David, who had his back toward me the whole time.

"He coulda stabbed you in the back while we were talking. He coulda killed us both."

David looked at me over his shoulder and grinned.

"He's not doin' shit," he said, walking to me and grabbing my left arm by the elbow. "By the way"—he stopped after pulling me a few steps away from the chair—"Want me to put make-up on him for you?"

Benson glared at him, then eyed me. I saw the confined desire in his eyes. I could tell that he was trying to hide his passion for me while David was around. He gave a light chuckle.

"That won't be necessary," he said, ogling me as David led me to the door. "He's good as is. Now get going. I don't want him smelling like piss."

"We wouldn't want that," David joked as he pulled along.

Soon, I was in the restroom, which was only seven or eight steps down the hall. Fortunately, David didn't enter with me, but he remained beside the door as I closed it. I examined the bathroom, searching for a window to escape through, but there wasn't one, not even a small one to let light in. To my surprise, the bathroom was orderly and clean. It was the opposite of what I expected the dwelling of such people to look like.

Seeing that I had no way to escape in the bathroom, I turned toward the mirror and studied my somber face. A second later, I remembered the cyan pill and I fished it out of my left pocket. I gazed at it as I held it between my thumb and pointer. I would've mulled over it for longer if it weren't for a worry that my captors might become suspicious if I took too long. I quickly removed the white cap from the tiny vial and put the pill in the palm of my left hand. I grabbed it, ready to throw it in my mouth and swallow it, but I suddenly remembered my friends. I remembered the happiness that I had felt with them.

 _I can't die yet. I won't do it._

I put the pill back into its clear vial, put the cover back on, and placed it back in my pocket. I looked at myself in the mirror again. I tried to see what it was in my face that had made Benson's eyes glaze over when he had kissed me in the room. I despised the thought that whatever it was in my appearance that had drawn Nicole to me all those years ago worked the same way on that man. I remembered that I would be filled with delight whenever Nicole would complement my looks in the past. But then, I wished that I was hideous.

I was never one to admire myself in the mirror because Nicole's love for me throughout my life had made me feel good enough, but as I looked myself in the mirror, I noticed my youthful face. As my grandma had told me long ago, I had inherited her looks from when she was my age. Besides being a little more masculine in comparison, the only major differences between her and I were that I had short hair and eyes that were of a deeper blue.

I took note of my gentle eyes and tried to put on an uninviting expression. However, that was all I could do to make myself look as unappealing as possible. I couldn't change the underlying features of my complexion. As I stared at my dispirited face in the mirror, I remembered that I had my Focus. I fished it out of my pocket. I wondered what to do with it, who I would send a message to. Sophie, Mary, Grace, and my three main friends were on my contact list.

I decided to send a message to Ella, so I put my Focus on my ear and did so. Suddenly, I heard a loud knock on the bathroom door, which made my heart jump in my chest.

"What the fuck's taking you so long?" David asked.

"I'm washing my hands," I said, stifling my anxiety.

David said nothing more. I quickly pulled up my contact list and tapped on Ella's name. I tapped on the message icon and briefly considered what to send. I remembered Katherine, the NRG sentry, who we had befriended over the month. I was aware of the tracking capabilities of law enforcement, which had been a matter of contention between the government and the public in the past. With her in mind, I created in the following message: "I've been kidnapped by four men. Please tell Katherine. She might know how to track my Focus."

While frantically pressing the letters on the holo-keypad, making a few typos in the process, my heart surged as if it was amid heavy seas. After sending the message, I looked at myself in the mirror one last time, ruffled my hair to try to make myself look unappealing, reluctantly licked my right hand and rubbed it over my face, then hurried to the bathroom door. I exited to see David standing impatiently with his arms crossed.

"Get the fuck over here," he muttered, quickly grabbing my right arm above my elbow.

I let him lead me back to the room, which was only ten feet down the hall. I saw the front door maybe twenty feet away. Smitty was leaning beside it, eyeing me with amusement. I wondered where Gabe was.

As David led me back into the room, I saw Benson sitting upon his chair, wiping the blade of a hunting knife with a cloth. He briefly glanced up at me as we entered and smiled.

"Cuff him back to the chair, if you don't mind," he said, cleaning his knife as one might carefully clean the lenses of a pair of glasses.

"You planning to kill him?" David nonchalantly asked, eyeing the knife and leading me to the wooden chair.

"No. This if for when he's stubborn," Benson said, grinning at David as if I weren't there.

"Don't get blood on the carpet."

"Dave, I know what I'm doing. Now get him on the chair and get out, will you?"

"Yessiree," David said with a slightly mocking tone.

I then sat on the chair without offering any resistance and let David handcuff me to the frame of the wooden backrest. Seeing Benson with the knife made me afraid to show any sign of defiance. He seemed intent on having his way, as I could see.

"Did you search him before bringing him here?" Benson asked, looking over me.

"Yeah, I did. You think I'm stupid?"

I knew he was lying; they hadn't searched me. Benson stared at David for a while.

"Did he have a Focus?"

"I checked. He didn't," David said with confidence.

He was evidently trying to save face. However, Benson didn't take the bait and he rose from his chair, went behind me, then reached into my pockets, checking the left one first. Thankfully, my cyan pill was tiny and too deep into my left pocket for his quick search to detect it. He was a little more thorough in searching my right pocket, however. He pulled out my Focus and held it before my eyes. I felt utter despair at the thought of losing it. It had all my calls with Nicole and many videos of her saved on it. Thinking that I would never lose my Focus, I hadn't bothered to save the calls and videos to my personal cloud before.

"Fucking dumbass!" he shouted, still standing behind me. "I thought you checked him?! Fucking liar!"

"I made Gabe check him," David casually lied. "He said he was clear."

"You said _you_ searched him!"

"I meant to say that I made Gabe check him. He's not gonna call the cops on us? What you worried about?"

Benson snickered. They silently stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Get the fuck out, please," Benson quietly commanded.

After tossing the key to my handcuffs on the king-sized bed, David left the room, closing the door behind him. Benson rose from his chair and went to lock the door. As he walked back to his chair right in front of me, he looked over his knife as if to find any blemishes. I knew that he did so to intimidate me.

"You took awfully long in the bathroom," he said after seating himself.

I kept silent, unable to think of anything good to say.

"You call your mom and dad in there?"

I looked at him in the eyes, yet I was filled with fear.

"No," I said.

"No?"—he snickered—"Where're your parents anyway? They evacuate already?" He casually asked, his right hand, which held the knife, resting on his thigh.

"Yeah."

"To where?"

"I don't know," I lied.

"You don't know? You don't know where your own mom and pop are?"

"They didn't tell me."

He eyed me with his piercing, gray eyes for what seemed like a long time. Thankfully, I saw no lust in his eyes, at least not yet. A minute or so later, he pored over his knife again as if there were still something to be seen on it. Without looking up from it, he spoke.

"You try calling the cops in there?" He calmly asked.

I froze with fear for a few seconds.

"No," I said, trying not to sound scared.

"Really? You wouldn't try to save yourself? I mean, I would've if I were you."

He then looked up at me and I felt the urge to avert my gaze out of fear. However, I met his gaze and held it. His eyes were so cold, his dark pupils were so small. He lowered his eyes without moving his face as if pondering something. A moment later, he looked back up at me.

"So, you ever fucked anyone?" He asked.

I warily looked at him, that unpleasant man.

"No," I calmly said.

I told the truth. Nicole and I had never taken our relationship that far before she had left during our senior year of high school.

With my admission, he scooted forward on his chair and reached for my groin. He grabbed my belt buckle and unfastened it. His eyes were focused where his hands were. He grabbed the fabric of my pants on my thighs and pulled until the upper half of my thighs were exposed to his eyes. I saw his eyes shift back to their lustful state.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I involuntarily uttered.

In a split second, he grabbed my hair again and put his face six inches or so away from mine.

"I'm _doing_ whatever the fuck I want!" He sternly said.

"You said you just wanted a few kisses."

"I lied," he said matter-of-factly.

He roughly kissed me, then placed his hands on the skin of my left thigh, slowly trailing it toward my underwear. Before he could touch me there, someone knocked on the door. Benson quickly turned his head to the door and removed his hand from my thigh.

"What the fuck do you want?!" He shouted.

"Benson! You won't believe it! The bots were pushed back to the sea! It's on the news! We're winning!" Said an eager voice.

"Are you fucking with me right now, Smitty? I'm in the middle of something!"

"I'm not, I swear. Kenny's regiment was mentioned in the news. They're at the front."

"Kenny? Kenny Sanders?" Benson asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, come on. You gotta see this," Smitty urged.

"Fuck, alright…I'll check it out," Benson said, rising from his chair.

He looked back at me and my exposed thighs for a few, long seconds. He grabbed my hair, put his face inches before mine, then grinned.

"I'll be back in a few. Wait here for me, will you?"

To my confusion and my relief, he pulled my pants back up and hastily refastened my belt. He then put his right hand on my left cheek and looked at me as if I was his lover. He eyed my lips for a moment, then looked back into my eyes. I felt his thumb trail over my lips, yet I kept a neutral expression. I was trying my best not to give him the satisfaction of appearing submissive. Fortunately, he did not kiss me again, although it seemed as if he wanted to. He checked on my handcuffs to see if they were secure, then headed for the door. He opened it, then walked out without looking back at me.

When I heard their voices recede, I felt the sudden urge to cry. The full weight of my situation hit me then. I was helplessly handcuffed to a wooden dining chair in a stranger's room. His vacant chair was before me. I still felt the ghost of his hands on the hem of my underwear. I still felt the touch of his thumb on my lips. I've read quite a few horror stories as a kid, but never had I thought that I would find myself in one. That man was attracted to me. I had seen it in his gray eyes. He thought I was handsome. To have a close friend call me handsome would be flattering, but to have a man like Benson compliment me so was utterly unsettling. From his countenance, I had received no hint of how far he was willing to go to satisfy his lust with me. After all, what human being, when enamored of someone, would be satisfied with a few kisses?

—

The holo-clock on the nightstand read 1:12. It had been about twenty minutes since Benson had left the room. I was then listening to an argument between him and Gabe outside the bedroom door. It wasn't a heated argument, but it seemed to be close to turning into one.

"I'm telling you, Benson" said Gabe, whose voice I recognized. "If the army finishes them at sea tomorrow or the day after and things go back to normal, I don't wanna get caught with him tied in my house. We gotta ditch him somewhere."

"But he killed Ted, Gabe. I can tell the cops that we were holding him for after the war, to turn him in," Benson eagerly reasoned. "That's my plan."

I dreaded the idea of being stuck with them until the end of the war.

"I think David's lying, Benson. I don't think that kid killed Ted. And if he did, it must've been out of self-defense, but I doubt he killed him."

"You don't believe David. Why? And does killing Ted in self-defense justify his actions?"

"He's lied before. I feel like he's hiding something. And I believe it does justify his actions if Ted and David were being aggressive."

A brief silence followed. I anxiously waited for them to continue. It struck me as bizarre that although I had clearly seen David shoot Ted, his lie had easily overridden that simple fact. I wished that telepathy were a reality, so that I could have them see the truth for themselves.

"Anyways, whatever you plan on doing with him in the room, he can tell the cops about it when you turn him in, so your plan to paint him as a murderer will backfire."

"What makes you so sure that the army's gonna win so soon? Just because they gave the swarm a little R&R at the beach, doesn't mean we're winning," Benson said. "We have enough time to keep him."

"You really believe David, don't you? You really think that this kid disarmed Ted and shot him like that?"—I heard him snap his fingers— "It's bullshit!"

"It doesn't matter if he killed him or not," Benson plainly said.

"What the fuck're you talking about? Why do we have him here then?"

"Because I want to keep him. I deserve this after losing Ted. And I do believe David."

"Leave it to the law after the war then," Gabe said. "We can't be going around kidnapping people. We were against bots, remember?"

"I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want with him, he killed my best friend! _My_ best friend!"

"How the hell can you believe that he was the man that killed Ted! He doesn't look like the killing type!"

They were silent for a moment; Benson gave no immediate reply.

"It doesn't matter, Gabe. I'm keeping him, whether he killed Ted or not," Benson said after a few seconds. "I'm keeping him. That's that."

"Benson. I don't want him in my damn house when people start coming back home!"

"Nobody's coming here yet, Gabe. Are you fucking stupid? Seriously? The war just begun. No one's coming back here for a long time, not even the police."

"That doesn't matter. I don't want you using my house as some kinda personal prison. We're ditching him today," Gabe firmly said. "I'll blindfold him and drop him off—"

"You ain't doing jack shit!" Benson interrupted with a raised voice. "You try anything, I'll kill you!"

I imagined that Benson had made that threat through clenched teeth. It was the pure resolve and anger in his voice that made me think so.

"What the fuck, Benson! Are you crazy?! Are you stupid?!"

"Go in and Look at him, Gabe, and tell me that the kid isn't the most beautiful thing you've ever seen! Go on," Benson fervently said.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Like hell I am. He is the most beautiful, unspoiled creature that I have ever had the pleasure to lay my eyes on and God forbid you take him away from me."

"You lost it, Benson. You're out of your damn mind."

"I said go in and look at him. Look at his lips and his eyes and his hair. Tell me you wouldn't want that. C'mon, I'll wait here," Benson said with utter conviction.

A brief silence followed.

"I'll be frank with you, Benson. I'm not a sick fuck like you."

"Is that right? Son-of-a-bitch. Smitty! David!" Benson called.

A few seconds passed.

"David!" He yelled again.

After about six seconds, I heard David's voice.

"What? I was in the garage. Why you yellin'?"

It was uncomfortable being handcuffed to the chair with my hands behind my back. However, Benson and Gabe's argument had distracted me from my discomfort for the time being. The afternoon sunlight had brightened the room, although the blinds were closed. The gray curtains were too thin to block the light. I suddenly longed to be outside under the blue sky, to lay my eyes on the distant clouds and let myself be enveloped by the Spring air. To think that the birds flew freely from tree to tree while I remained confined to a chair in a stuffy room.

"Where's Smitty?" Benson asked.

"He's in the back."

"Bring him here."

David apparently complied with Benson's order because no more than a minute later, I heard Smitty's voice.

"What is it?" He nonchalantly asked.

"Gabe here doesn't believe you, David; thinks you're a filthy liar. He wants to take the kid away from me. I want you two to make sure he doesn't do that," Benson said with an authoritative tone.

"Alright," David said.

"Fucking dumbass," Smitty said, evidently to Gabe.

"What the fuck," Gabe said. "You gonna tie me to a chair too? Huh?"

"If you try anything stupid, I will," Benson replied.

"You're fucking insane. You're a sick man."

"Get him the fuck outta here," Benson commanded.

"Where to?" Smitty asked.

"Out of earshot."

"We'll be in the garage or the backyard," David casually said. "What do we do with him?"

"Just watch him. He's probably on his period."

"Fuck you."

With that, the two men led Gabe away, which was apparent by the sound of their receding footsteps on the wooden floor of the hallway. My heart was pounding in anticipation. I was utterly helpless, and Gabe was no longer a beacon of hope for my despairing mind. I wondered if my message to Ella had got through.

My heart jumped in my chest as I heard the doorknob turn and the door open. Benson stood on the fringe of the carpet, looking at me with a tinge of a smile on his face, which grew into a satisfied smile.

—

About ten minutes later, my pants were around my knees and Benson's hands were greedily groping my bare thighs. All the while, he was hunched forward, sitting on the edge of his chair, kissing my neck with a filthy passion. I felt blood drying in my nose; he had struck me twice a minute ago when I had refused his hungry tongue. After making my nose bleed, he had hurriedly wiped away the blood that had dripped above my lips, feigning concern. I had felt like crying when he first got to kissing my neck, but I had been infused with a sudden boldness, which helped me to stoically endure his advances. I didn't know where that courage came from or how long it would last.

After indulging himself with my neck for a while, he sat back onto his chair and looked over me as one might look at a prized possession. He held my chin and studied my face. He seemed to sense my misery because he took on a somber expression.

"If you hadn't resisted, I wouldn't have hit you like that," he calmly said. "Just relax."

I glowered at him. His attempt to justify his disgusting behavior made me want to hit him with a metal bar thirty-eight times. I imagined him to be that many years old.

He seemed so oblivious to his own sick personality. Not a drop of shame or self-awareness was apparent in his eyes or his demeanor. I dearly missed the faces of my friends. Their complexions had always spoke of friendliness, harmlessness, and overall goodness. The vile personalities of my captors, excluding Gabe, were foreign to me. I had never mingled with such depraved people in my life. They had always been relegated to the news or the background. To think that I was then the personal toy of one of those lowly group of men.

How many of Nicole's kisses would it take to wash away that filth that Benson's attention had encrusted on me? A thousand? A million? Whatever amount would last until I died was what it would take.

"You have such a…charming, captivating face, you know that?" He plainly said, rubbing my lips with his thumb.

His pupils were slightly large then and the gray of his eyes formed a thinner border around that hungry black circle. As his thumb trailed over my lower lip, gently pulling it away from my teeth, his greedy eyes followed it. I didn't know whether to keep my eyes on his or to look away. Both seemed in my mind to be equally bad. A strong desire to die and a yearning for the company of my three friends vied within me. If I were to kill myself, I wouldn't see Ada, Ella, and Adele again, but if I wanted to be with them once again, I would have to endure his abuse.

"I can't believe you don't have a partner," he said. "Were you lying to me?"

"No," I lied, trying to keep a neutral face.

"You've never had a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"No."

I briefly averted my gaze from his to give myself a short break. His ogling made me feel queasy and powerless.

"That's sad. What a waste," he said, running his hand through my brown hair. "So, I'm your first then?"

I gave no reply, keeping my eyes on the gray carpet as his hand continued to invade my hair. He gave an indulgent chuckle and I regretted appearing so defeated. I assumed that he took pleasure in seeing me so meek. Suddenly, he quickly leaned forward like a tiger pouncing upon its prey and crashed his lips onto mine. It was a rough kiss.

I felt his cold hand flatten on my left thigh. He slowly moved it toward my pelvis, not raising it from my bare skin in the process. I felt his fingers on the hem of my underwear and go underneath it. Before he reached my private parts, he stopped and lingered it there, kissing my lips and chin all the while.

"Fuck," he quietly uttered amid his unrestrained passion. "You're such a good boy, aren't you?"

"Fuck you," I muttered, straining my wrists against the cuffs as if I could free my hands by doing so.

"Wanna fuck me so soon? Tsk, tsk. You're being a little imposing, young man," he cooed.

I was a calm person by habit, but at the moment, I felt a mixture of anger and helplessness that made me want to kill in the most violent way. Never before had I felt the urge to stab someone repeatedly and cry at the same time. But I wouldn't cry until I could do so.

"Look at those red lips," he said with a grin. "You like this, don't you?"

I wasn't aroused one bit, but I didn't say so.

"How bout this. I'm gonna uncuff you and you're gonna kneel on the floor. If you let me cum on your face, I'll let you go, I swear. Sound good?" He casually asked.

I warily eyed him, beyond disgusted, but knowing that it would be pointless to express it. Keeping a neutral expression seemed the best thing to do. He studied my face with anticipation. He might've sensed either my hatred for him or my disgust at his conditions.

"I swear to God above that I will let you free if you let me do this. C'mon," he said with pleading eyes.

I remained silent and a few seconds later, he suddenly took out his knife from some unseen sheath on his back. He nonchalantly pored over it, turning it over in his hands, as if waiting for me to answer. I knew that he was trying to intimidate me so that I would give in to his sick wish. To be honest, the sight of that knife did make me feel afraid and willing to comply. It was silver and shiny, and he might've been looking at his reflection on it.

"Made up your mind yet?" He asked, running his finger along the flat part of the blade.

I kept silent. I doubted that he would let me go. I didn't think that he was one to be so easily satisfied and I knew that his sick request implied an unrelenting lust for me, my face and body.

"You're lying," I boldly said. "I know it."

"You know what."—he rose from his chair and placed the knife against my cheek right beside my mouth—"My patience is waning right about now. I'm gonna take your cuffs off, and if you don't kneel on the carpet, I'll fucking cut you," he said without a hint of remorse.

My breathing had hitched when he had placed the blade against my skin, and I felt drowned in fear as he lingered it there. All of that dread pooled in my heart and my mind was disoriented by the force of that sudden emotion.

"Okay, okay," I uttered, trying to speak and breath at the same time.

"That's a good boy."

With that he uncuffed me and after my hands were freed, he placed the knife against my back. I kneeled without any resistance and he quickly cuffed my hands behind me. Thankfully, the floor was carpeted, giving my knees sufficient cushioning. However, that was the least of my worries. There I was, kneeling on the floor for that man like a good slave.

After checking to see that the cuffs were secure, he walked in front of me and I looked up at him. Immediately after looking down at me, his mouth opened, his jaws slackened by pure lust.

" _Oh my God,_ " he uttered with a quivering voice. " _Oh my God._ "

He fumbled with his belt buckle and quickly unfastened it without removing his eyes from mine. I didn't know whether to look away or not, but I thought that both would look equally submissive and arouse him all the same. He pushed his pants down his legs and stepped out of them, hastily throwing them aside. Afterward, he kneeled before me, violently grabbed my hair, and smashed his lips against mine. He was tasting my lips, for the most part, rather than kissing them. He then focused his kisses on my neck and even bit it twice. I stifled a groan of pain each time. After a minute or so of indulging his lips, he quickly rose without removing his grip on my short, brown hair. I briefly wished that I was bald or had a buzz cut like Smitty so that he wouldn't be able to grab it like that. It was so demeaning.

For a while, he simply ogled me as I remained in that submissive position. He rubbed his engorged organ through his dark blue underwear. It looked to be ready to burst out of it. I was conflicted with how I should compose myself then as I kneeled. I thought that a look of defiance might turn him on, but a neutral expression might make him feel that he had "conquered" me.

"God fucking dammit," he muttered amid his rapid breathing, his eyes glazed over. "God fucking dammit."

Unable to stand what I was seeing anymore, I tried to pull my head away from his grip on my hair and after three tries, I succeeded. I felt regret seep in a few seconds afterward; I had no clue what I had intended to achieve by doing so. I quickly thought of an excuse to tell him.

"I'll do this if you keep your hands off of me," I hastily said.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want," he said with a raised voice, grabbing my hair again.

For some reason, I involuntarily lurched my head away from his grip again and freed my hair from it on the first try. It was a reflexive reaction. It might've been because he had ever so slightly pulled my face toward his sexual organ.

"Fuck you," I muttered.

Immediately after my remark, he grabbed my hair a third time with his left hand and punched me with his right. After six or seven hard punches, he resorted to slapping me across the right side of my face with the back of his hand. I felt something dripping down my left cheek. He quickly kneeled and lifted my shirt to the unseen liquid. He kept my shirt there for a few minutes, glaring at me as if I were an unruly student.

"You still gonna act up?" He sternly asked. "It's simple, Michael. You're making this hard."

I simply glanced at him with a neutral look, which seemed to satisfy him.

"I'm gonna get the first aid kit in the bathroom. Don't you move."

He hurried out the door and a few seconds later he returned with a small, red container. He opened it and put a nano-infused bandage on my wound. I despised him as he did so. With my bleeding cut covered, he rose again and grabbed my hair. He then used his free hand, which he had used to stimulate himself, to remove his underwear, but before he could expose his organ, there was a loud knock at the front door. He tensed up and let go of my hair. To my disgust and relief, I saw his organ shrink in his hands. He quickly put his pants back on and quickly buckled his belt.

"Fuck!" He shouted. "Who the _fuck_ is it now!—he looked at me with pure viciousness—"Don't you fucking move, or I will I fucking hurt you so fucking bad!"

I simply put on a submissive look out of fear, although defiance churned right underneath. I was immeasurably relieved for the diversion, that knock on the door. I assumed that it was David or one of the others. Benson hurried to the window and peeked out the blinds.

"Fuck!" He shouted, moving away from the window and pacing back and forth. "Fuck!"—he looked at me with rage—"You called them here, didn't you? You stupid shit!"

He quickly walked up to me and kicked my right forearm, which was still cuffed behind my back. A sharp pain coursed through my arm. He kicked the same spot twice more, then hurried to the bedroom door. Once he exited and closed the door behind him, I let out a long sigh that made my chest tremble. My right arm was throbbing with pain, which was made worse by the fact that I was still handcuffed.

Twenty seconds or so later, I heard more than one set of footsteps walking down the hall toward the front door. I heard them speaking in hushed voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. As they passed the bedroom door, I heard the cocking of guns.

"Make your shots count, alright?" I heard David say as they passed the door.

"Yeah," Benson said.

I saw the shadow of a figure pass by the bedroom window, blocking the sunlight that shone directly on it. It was heading toward the front. I rose to my feet and went up to the window, using my nose to push aside the white blinds. I then saw Smitty with his back to me, sneaking along the side of the house to the front. He was holding what looked to be a black assault rifle. I saw a black NRG vehicle parked along the curb in view, but I saw no soldiers in or beside it. As Smitty slowly crept along, I suddenly heard a loud shout from someone out of view and he quickly raised his weapon. However, before he could aim, he was shot a few times and fell limp on the grass near the window. I gasped and backed away, processing what I had just seen.

 _Did an NRG soldier shoot him?_ I asked myself. _That had to be the case. Yes, there's an NRG vehicle here._

I was suddenly infused with a hope that made me forget the pain in my right arm and my confinement. I assumed that the message that I had sent to Ella was behind the NRG's unexpected presence.

Shortly after Smitty had fell to the grass, loud shouting suddenly sounded from the direction of the front door. The shouting sounded robotic in nature.

"Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!"

Not a second after the robotic voice had shouted those words, the sound of gunfire emanated from the living room. After about five seconds, it ended. Shortly, I heard the sound of human footsteps approaching the bedroom door. My whole body tensed up as I stared at the white door.

"Check the rooms," said the voice of a woman.

"Yes, ma'am," said a robotic voice.

The robot's footsteps were barely audible as it went down the hall. A second later, the doorknob turned, and the door was pushed open. The woman that quickly swept the room with her DEW was Katherine. She was in her blue, digital disruptive camo uniform. She smiled upon seeing me, but soon took on a somber look after looking over me. I knew that it was my sorry state that made her look so. We had become good friends in the course of the past month.

"We found him," she said into an unseen radio. "Three or four armed men were dispatched at the residence."

She then approached me and put a kindly hand on my shoulder. She looked at the bandage on my left cheek and gently lifted my face by my chin to look into my nose. I assumed that the dried blood was still visible around my nostrils. She looked at my handcuffed hands, then looked up at me with kindly, yet concerned eyes. Her warm countenance relieved me greatly, and I felt a sense of ease and security wash over my heart. All the fear and powerlessness that I had felt not too long ago began to dissipate like a drop of ink in a pond.

"What happened?" she asked with a gentle voice, which soothed me.

"Nothing. I was just roughened up a bit," I said, averting my gaze from hers.

I focused on the gray carpet, trying to hold back my emotions.

"You're safe now, Michael," she said with that benevolent voice of hers. "Let's get these cuffs off of you. Then, we'll bring you back to your friends. They've been worried sick."

"Benson has the keys for it," I said. "The man with the bald spot."

She nodded, then gestured for me to follow her. I did so and we headed out the bedroom door. The first thing that I saw was the wide-open front door. I saw an NRG vehicle through it. In the living room stood an NRG bot with its DEW. I then saw David lying dead beside the brown couch in the living room. Only his chest and face were visible; the lower half of his body was hidden behind the couch.

As I followed Katherine to the living room, I saw Gabe lying dead in the kitchen with a hunting rifle lying beside him. I saw where the bullet that killed him had entered his chest, but the nature of the shot hindered any bleeding; his gray shirt was unsullied by his blood.

"He's the one with the key?" Katherine asked, gesturing with her head toward Benson's lifeless body in the living room.

I lingered my eyes on his limp body for some time, feeling relieved that he was dead. I saw three holes in his chest, each of which had minimal blood stains around them. One of the gunshot wounds was right above the collar of his beige shirt, above his sternum. Of the other two, one was right above his heart and the other was a few inches beside it.

"Yeah, he has it," I said, keeping my eyes on his lifeless face. "I think it's in his right pocket."

Katherine let her DEW hang across her chest from its sling and went up to Benson's body. She checked his right pocket and pulled a key out.

"Alright, let's get those cuffs off," she said, approaching me.

I kept looking at Benson's dead body, glued to its new, harmless appearance. As I did so, Katherine gently grabbed my right forearm to unlock the handcuffs. I winced in pain and uttered a sudden "ow."

"Sorry, sorry," she quickly apologized. "Is it stiff?"

"He kicked my arm a couple of times," I casually said. "He was…crazy."

"Oh, alright. We'll have it checked out."

She took my right forearm in her hands and gently placed pressure along its length.

"It hurts here?"

She had pressed the outer edge of my forearm near my wrist.

"Yeah," I said after grimacing.

As she tended to me, I felt so grateful for her appearance and wanted to let her know that.

"Katherine."

"What's up?" She said, scanning my arm with her aug.

"Thank you," I said, looking at her with pure appreciation.

I felt like I was looking at a superhero, but she was better than all of those gaudy, fictional superheroes in those popular movies that I had never once been a fan of. She was a real hero. She looked up at me with curiosity, then smiled warmly.

"Let's get you outta here now," she said. "We might have to take you to a hospital. You have a fracture."

I nodded. She then headed for the front door and I followed behind her. Before going out the door, I remembered my Focus. Benson had placed it on the dresser beside the window in the bedroom.

"Wait. I forgot my Focus in the room," I said.

Katherine turned around and waited for me on the front porch. I hurried to the room and spotted my Focus on the dresser. I picked it up and placed it in my pocket. Then, I returned to her, but not before looking at Benson's lifeless body once more. I momentarily feared that he might suddenly come back to life and lock his cold, gray eyes on mine again. However, his eyes were that of a dead man.

"Lucky you had your Focus with you. We wouldn't have tracked you otherwise," she nonchalantly said, leaning against the white painted railing of the porch.

My mind was still concerned with my captors.

"Are they for sure dead?" I asked, hiding my anxiety.

"Our bots shoot to kill," she coolly replied.

With that, we walked to one of the three NRG vehicles parked along the curb. I lifted my gaze to the blue skies. I saw the towering cumulus clouds to the west. I saw the majestic pine trees about the empty neighborhood. I saw a stray cat, orange and white in color, walking across the sidewalk beside the vehicles. It eyed me with disinterest, then strolled across the street, going between the vehicles. I saw a couple of birds flying against the blue sky. In the distance, five VTOLs were flying eastward.


End file.
